Martin Lawrence Doesn’t Think Chris Rock Deserved To Be Slapped By Will Smith At The Oscars: We Gotta Be More Conscious Of How We Treat Each Other

Martin Lawrence Doesn’t Think Chris Rock Deserved To Be Slapped By Will Smith At The Oscars: We Gotta Be More Conscious Of How We Treat Each Other

Actor/comedian Martin Lawrence was initially devastated to see his brothers in Hollywood, Will Smith and Chris Rock, at odds.

Nearly ten months ago, Will Smith shook the entertainment industry when he smacked Chris Rock on live television at the 94th Academy Awards. The slap, which later received much ridicule, stemmed from an onstage joke that Chris Rock made about Will Smith’s wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith.

The controversial jest was in relation to Demi Moore’s buzz cut in the 1997 classic war drama ‘G.I. Jane,’ but the context behind it sent Smith, whose wife suffers from alopecia areata, over the edge. For those who don’t know, alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease that produces scalp baldness.

Demi Moore as Lieutenant Jordan O’Neil in ‘G.I. Jane’ (via Reddit)

Following the infamous Oscars debacle, many celebrities have spoken out about the matter, and opinions on the sudden feud have (of course) varied.

Recently, Smith’s ‘Bad Boys’ co-star, Martin Lawrence, made an appearance on ‘The VC Show’ with Vince Carter and opened up about the sensitive situation and his thoughts surrounding it.

Martin Lawrence

Having maintained a relationship with Smith and Rock, he explained that he was actually pained to see the heartbreaking occurrence and reached out to each of the men after the fiasco.

“Well, it hurt me, you know, to see that happen. You know, because I know both of them, both of them are my brothers. And, when it happened, you know, I texted both of them after it happened… you know, just to see how they were doing and everything.”

Lawrence continued and expressed his disapproval of how everything went down, indicating that he felt that Rock’s actions didn’t warrant a physical approach.

“It was just an unfortunate situation. And Will [Smith] wasn’t in the right space that night, and Chris Rock didn’t deserve that. So, it was just such an unfortunate situation.”

Upon discussing the support that Smith and Rock needed, the 57-year-old added that the Black community, as a whole, has to stick together, especially in today’s climate.

“The thing is, they both needed the love. They both needed the love. You know, it’s just like brothers fighting and you don’t want to see your brothers fighting and stuff. You know, but Chris Rock didn’t deserve that at all. You know, like I said, it’s just an unfortunate situation, and we gotta be more conscious of how we treat each other and the respect that we have for each other as Black men and Black women.”

He continued:

“You know, because we are all we have. And… to push forward in this life, we need each other. We need each other’s strength; we need each other’s wisdom; and we need each other’s blessings.”

Chris Rock

Despite previous claims of the Oscars showdown affecting the production of ‘Bad Boys 4,’ Lawrence has since debunked those allegations and announced that he and Smith were still getting the ball rolling on the anticipated film.

However, as of late, Smith has been promoting his newest release, ‘Emancipation,’ which premiered earlier this month.

Not too long ago, the ‘King Richard’ trouper addressed the public’s lack of interest in watching the blockbuster, due to his dispute with Rock.

The 54-year-old said to the potential viewers:

“The people on this team [behind Emancipation] have done some of the best work of their entire careers, and my deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalize my team. So, at this point, that’s what I’m working for, that’s what I’m hoping for. I’m hoping that the material, the power of the film, the timeliness of the story–you know–I’m hoping that the good that can be done would open people’s hearts at a minimum to see and recognize and support the incredible artists in and around this film.”

Smith has also previously apologized to Rock, but the ‘Everybody Hates Chris’ creator has yet to directly respond.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!