Hollywood actor Will Smith is being called a “cuck” online after slapping comedian Chris Rock during the 2022 Academy Awards.
The incident began on Sunday evening after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, having a bald head. Pinkett Smith revealed in 2018 that she had been diagnosed with alopecia.
Smith responded by walking onstage and striking Rock across the face before repeatedly shouting “Keep my wife’s name out ya fucking mouth!”
The shocking display quickly led to widespread debate online, with many arguing over whether they believed Smith’s actions were justified. Others claimed that the entire incident had been staged, while conspiracy theorists offered an array of bizarre explanations as to why.
Over on the r/conspiracy subreddit, far-right users claimed that the assault was part of a secret plot to increase the award show’s ratings. Another user alleged that the moment was scripted in order “socially engineer society to no longer tolerate jokes.” Others claimed the incident was all part of a distraction by “the elite” to take attention away from conspiracy theories involving Hunter Biden and “biolabs” in Ukraine.
The term “cuck,” however, appeared to become one of the top trends on Twitter. Cuck, short for cuckhold, is a term for a man whose wife is having sex with other men. The term has been repeatedly thrown at Smith after he revealed last year that he and his wife have long been in an open relationship.
While the open relationship was reportedly agreed upon by both Smith and his wife, countless Twitter users appeared to argue that the Hollywood actor should be more concerned about other men having sex with his wife than making jokes.
“You can fuck my wife, but keep her name out yo mouth,” one Twitter user mockingly wrote.
Numerous references were also made to the music artist August Alsina, who Pinkett Smith admittedly had a so-called “entanglement” with in years prior.
A meme referring to Pinkett Smith as both Will’s and August’s wife also went viral online.
The term continued to trend well into Monday afternoon and saw mentions on numerous other social media platforms as well.
“Will Smiths [sic] marriage is open to everything except jokes,” another user quipped. “This is where the cuck draws the line…”
Rock reportedly declined to press charges against Smith following the award show. Smith, who won best actor shortly after the incident, apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees but declined to state the same for Rock.
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