Reflections on the "slap heard around the world"
It's a leader's job to know better.
Wake up on any Monday morning, check your phone or the TV and you are likely to find something which saddens, shocks, angers, or evokes some other negative emotional response. Monday, the 28th of March was no exception. For those who did not watch the 94th Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, we woke that Monday to the news of actor Will Smith striking comedian Chris Rock in the face. What followed was a barrage of news headlines, videos, memes and images to keep the event in our psyche.
I viewed it through the lens of a leader, father, veteran, and citizen. I confess I thought about it a lot that week, especially on Sunday as I decided write about it. Placing my bottom line upfront, it was dead wrong. If Websters Dictionary needed an image for its definition of wrong, this would be it. I cannot think of a time, save for self-defense or the protection of others, where assaulting another person is justified. It is important to note what could have happened. Will Smith swung at Chris Rock with full force. What if he missed the face and cupped Rock's ear rupturing his ear drum or if Chris flinched and he caught his eye? It could have caused serious permanent damage. If the assault wasn't bad enough, he shouted expletives from his seat on live television.
For all the ugliness of this incident, it is worthy of a leader-led, non-judgmental, and apolitical office discussion. There is much to be asked, discussed and processed because, unfortunately, this will not be the last of its kind. While I do want to understand what happened and why, my predominant desire is to move forward, learning and growing from it. Here, I'll offer numerous questions to ponder. Some I will answer, some I don't have the answers to, some I'll leave to you and your team to wrestle with.
I imagined myself as a member of the audience that night and I've thought about what I would have done. Indeed, it is easy to Monday morning quarterback this. I've been caught up in the shock of a moment more than once, paralyzed and speechless, but I do know that my beliefs, character, and my stewardship to leadership would have spoken to me and tugged at me following that assault. Perhaps I would have stood up and left. Or maybe I would have stayed to honor those awardees who had nothing do to with the incident. I do know I could not have brought myself to stand and applaud Will Smith for receiving his Oscar. I may have stayed seated and even booed or hissed to broadcast my disapproval. If you were in the audience, what would you have done?
What should the Academy leadership have done? Who was in charge? Was it Will Packer, the producer? What were his specific actions (or inaction) following the assault? Why wasn't this dealt with on the spot? Did the Academy leadership act appropriately following the assault? Did they choose the "show must go on," approach or did they refuse to act out of loyalty to ratings? Would they have acted differently if it was anyone else beside Will Smith? Did they choose the easy wrong over the hard right? How would your organization react after an assault like that? Here are more questions to ponder.
Is Will Smith a leader? He certainly is a leading actor, at the top of his profession. What does this mean for his words and actions in public? What responsibility comes with his fame? What stewardship does he have toward the Academy and the acting profession writ large?
What (and where) constitutes offensive humor? At what point does humor cross the threshold of offensive?
What should be the punishment for Will Smith? Should he be stripped of this recognition? Should he be arrested? Should his name be removed from the roster of the Academy awards? Soldiers who stand guard over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier can lose their Tomb Guard Identification Badge for an offense which discredits the Tomb of the Unknowns. Their name can be removed from the roster long after their military service. Should the Academy live by similar standards?
What do we do now? Do we boycott Will Smith entertainment? What do we say to our children or others who look up to us? How are we being loyal to our character and our values?
It is true that power corrupts. Has it corrupted Will Smith to the point where he thought an assault and his comments were ok? When has he been called out for his mistakes, poor performance, and bad behavior? Who is the person close to him who can protect him from himself? Does he have a coach, a peer, a confidant?
Can Will Smith recover from this? Is he truly remorseful? I'm not yet convinced even after his resignation from the Academy and a few press releases. When trust is broken and an image tattered; when we have seen the dark side of someone, there is a long road ahead to rebuild that trust and persona. Where I come from, his apology must come in both word and deed and forgiving him, eventual, not immediate.
What about Chris Rock? How would you have reacted?
The damage is done. The slap and verbal outrage cannot be unseen or undone. Part of me hopes that Will Smith is suffering from something which caused him to lash out and that he seeks help. I hope this only because I would hate to believe he did what he did poisoned by his power, driven by his ego, and believing he could get away with it. For all that it is, it provides us with an opportunity to think more deeply about this behavior and the reaction of so many, including ourselves.
It's a leader's job to know better. I hope this reminds us of that.
Rob Campbell
Rob Campbell