Cory Booker on The Slap: 'Nothing at all justifies violence,' but 'we've all made mistakes'
As the rest of us continue to watch, rewatch, and discuss what happened at Sunday's Academy Awards (i.e. Will Smith slapping Chris Rock on stage), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has offered up his take on the situation.
"A lot of us who are in public life know that there are going to be cruel jokes, and I've never been one to endorse that kind of humor," Booker said. "I think the best of our comedians, which I've seen Chris Rock do, are ones that highlight injustices, call our attention and engage us in a way with the absurdity ... of the injustice of this world."
Smith's slap arrived after Rock made a joke at actress Jada Pinkett Smith's expense. Pinkett Smith and Smith are married.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"But nothing at all justifies violence," Booker continued. "What we saw was violence that night."
That said, the senator called on viewers to extend "grace" to both Smith and Rock: "We are all mountain ranges, we've all made mistakes, and the totality of who Will Smith is, who Chris Rock is was not defined by what I thought was a very unfortunate and low moment for the Oscars and for all of us."
Smith has since apologized to Rock for his "unacceptable and inexcusable" behavior.
-
Properties of the week: pretty thatched cottagesThe Week Recommends Featuring homes in West Sussex, Dorset and Suffolk
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures An explosive meal, a carnival of joy, and more
-
The ‘ravenous’ demand for Cornish mineralsUnder the Radar Growing need for critical minerals to power tech has intensified ‘appetite’ for lithium, which could be a ‘huge boon’ for local economy
-
NIH director Bhattacharya tapped as acting CDC headSpeed Read Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of the CDC’s Covid-19 response, will now lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
