After comedian Rob Schneider unleashed an expletive-laden rant about Will Smith on a radio show, a comedic ally of the superstar is pushing back. Actor and stand-up comedian Aries Spear jumped into the fray on Atlanta Black Star’s Instagram to defend the “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” star.
“I’ve met Will Smith on several occasions. He’s truly one of the nicest most humbled down to earth dudes in the game,” said the “MADtv” alum.
On June 12, Schneider slammed Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards Ceremony two years ago, unearthing an old scandal just as the Oscar winner’s new movie, “Bad Boys: Ride Or Die,” with Martin Lawrence, crushed the box office on its opening weekend. Rock and Schneider are both “Saturday Night Live” alums from the early `90s and go back years together.
To recap, Chris Rock was presenting the Best Documentary award in 2022 when he cracked a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. “Jada, I love G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” he said about the actress, who says she suffers from alopecia, a health condition that causes hair loss.
After noticing his wife’s reaction, Smith bounded up onstage and slapped Chris Rock, later yelling from his seat for Rock to keep Jada’s name out of his mouth.
Throwback to when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars.
— tooXclusive (@tooXclusive_com) October 11, 2023
– Jada and Will have been separated since 2016, What was the slap for then?pic.twitter.com/mKqJgxBN6b
Jada and Smith’s marriage has been tumultuous, to say the least. She claimed to People that they were separated at the time of the slap and have been since 2016, though they have no plans to divorce — thanks in large part to the incident, strangely enough.
“It took that slap for me to see I will never leave him. Who knows where our relationship would be if that hadn’t happened?” she told the Daily Mail’s “You Magazine.”
Schneider resurrected the old scandal on the “Kyle and Jackie O” Australian radio show. Best known for his role as a fish tank cleaner in “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,” we hadn’t seen Schneider this mad since comedian Fred Armisen flicked a cigarette into an aquarium.
“Will Smith is a tw-t. Will Smith has been hiding the fact of who he really is and it was exposed that night. He’s really an a—hole,” said Schneider, who continued ranting: “He’s a liar, an utter fraud. Will is a douchebag. The thing is that’s how politically correct the Academy is. That they were so cowardly,” added Schneider, who characterized the incident as “a crime” and believes he would have been “hauled out to prison” if he had slapped Chris Rock. “They were so worried about being racist.”
Both Australian radio hosts pushed back on Schneider, with Jackie O saying, “Back up a second,” and Kyle Sandilands asking the million-dollar question: “But didn’t you also sort of think he was standing up for his missus?”
Commenters on Atlanta Black Star’s Instagram post seem to be siding with Will Smith, though the debate continues.
“I don’t like The fact that CR kept talking badly for years about that man’s wife,” said one, while another commented, “I know firsthand he’s been out of his way kind to people when he had nothing to gain from it. I don’t like what he did to Rock, but that’s between them. And lots of folks I respect act out of pocket on occasion.”
Coming to his defense, Spears added, “That’s not who he really was or is he like most humans just succumb to the pressure of being in a horrible situation with the woman that he loves driving him crazy and he had a breakdown.”
However, another commenter asks, “Does that give him a pass for assault? I’m sure there are people who have had nothing but pleasant experiences with the worst of criminals.”
The whole will smith backlash was definitely about jealousy…bc all these comedians that act like Will did something so unspeakable like defending his wife are extremely quiet about Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears.
— Ruyoncé🐝🇳🇬 (@RuChOhu) September 5, 2022
Spears knows how to be canceled or to face public scrutiny for his actions after a 2022 scandal involving a kids skit. He and Tiffany Haddish were accused of child molestation in a lawsuit following a viral skit called “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes” featuring a young actress and her brother when they were minors.
The young girl in the video alleges they “groomed” and “molested” them, and court documents reveal their mother accepted a $15,000 settlement.
Meanwhile, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” is poised to be the first blockbuster of the summer season.
