The 2023 Oscars came and went, and yet, the world is still hung up on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at last year’s ceremony. After getting fresh limelight thanks to the comedian’s Netflix show Selective Outrage — where he dragged Jada Pinkett Smith and her “entanglement” to explain why his controversial Oscars joke was funny — the drama is receiving renewed interest in the wake of the cancelation of Red Table Talk, which has been blamed as the root of the issue by Nick Cannon. In fact, it is getting enough attention to warrant a psychologist sitting down to dissect why Smith and Rock aren’t friends already.
Everyone remembers the trillion apologies the King Richard star has already extended to Rock, right? Well, the one he made in a July 2022 YouTube video stands out as in it he promised that he and Rock will be “friends again.” But anyone who has seen the latter’s Netflix special is aware that the duo is currently living the famous line from the series Hannibal:
“The light from friendship won’t reach us for a million years. That’s how far away from friendship we are.”
This broken friendship inspired Insider to sit down with Dr. Frederick Smith, a psychologist, and deduce what causes a friendship to end and whether any are salvageable. The conversation hinged on how both Smith and Rock felt “disrespected by the other on the night of the slap.” According to Dr. Smith, “it’s important to determine where the anger came from.”
“Was the anger you felt toward the person related to them or something they did?” Smith said. “Or is it something else that was going on, and you took your anger out on that person?”
The psychologist suggested that the dent in a friendship can be fixed if both sides are willing to repair it. But seeing that so far, only Will Smith has extended an (or ten) olive branch, the doctor admitted that some friendships ending is only natural. And apparently, trying too hard to hang on to a relationship that is already beyond saving is what gives you grief.
“A lot of times, we run into these problems because we’re trying to make seasonal people a lifetime commitment.”
Ooh, “season people,” ha? Is that Rock in this case as Smith is the one regularly serving his apologies?
Well, while saying for certain if the comedian will ever forgive the actor or whether their friendship still has chances of returning to its pre-2022 Oscars state, given the trajectory of the entire Smith-Rock story so far and how the smallest spark is enough to kickstart a new debate, it is safe to say that the interest in where it goes next isn’t fading out anytime soon.
