New poll shows over 52% Americans blame Chris Rock for sparking the slap by Will Smith at the Oscars

More than half of Americans stood with Will Smith over Chris Rock over the now-infamous Oscars-slapping incident, according to a new poll that asked ‘Who do you think was more in the wrong?’

Blue Rose Research, a Democratic pollster, surveyed 2,162 Americans online regarding the heated moment at Sunday’s Academy Awards between Rock and Smith, with 52.3 percent of people saying Rock deserved what he got after he joked about Smith’s wife’s shaved head.

The slapping incident occurred after Rock cracked a joke about the ‘GI Jane’ haircut of Jada Pinkett Smith, 50, who has alopecia. The shocking scene, broadcast live around the world, stunned both the live audience at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and TV viewers.

Smith later showed up on stage and slapped Rock with an open right hand. Rock staggered and exclaimed, ‘Wow, Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.’

Smith then walked back to his seat  and shouted: ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.’

Referring to Pinkett Smith’s buzzcut, Rock said: ‘Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2’, prompting the actress to roll her eyes. Pinkett Smith has been battling hair loss since revealing her alopecia diagnosis in 2018. 

After being slapped, Rock appeared shocked and still went on to present the best documentary feature category.

‘That was the greatest night in the history of television,’ Rock said, before awkwardly reading the Oscar nominees, an award that went to Questlove’s ‘Summer of Soul (…or When the Revolution Was Not Televised).’ 

The poll comes ahead of an emergency meeting of the Academy’s board scheduled for Wednesday that will determine if Smith will suffer any punishment for his actions. 

Those surveyed were given the following question: ‘Last night, there was an incident at the Academy Awards show you may have heard about. The host, comedian Chris Rock, made a comment about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss, joking that she should be cast in a movie as G.I Jane. 

‘In response, her husband, actor Will Smith, stormed on the stage and slapped Rock across the face. Who do you think was more in the wrong?’

According to the results, the majority of those between 18 and 64 years old believed Rock was in the wrong, while about 51.8 percent of those 65 and older thought Smith was the one who crossed the line. 

Men and women were divided on the issue, with 56.5 percent of women agreeing that Rock was most at fault while 52.4 percent of men thought Smith was the one to blame. 

In terms of income, the majority of those who made less than $100,000-a-year blamed Rock while the majority of those who made more blamed Smith. 

About 51.1 percent of white people thought Rock was at fault, as did 56 percent of black people and 55.7 percent of Hispanics and Native Americans. Asians were split down the middle, according to the poll. 

When lining up the issue with how people voted in the 2020 presidential election, about 50.1 percent of Joe Biden voters put the blame on Smith while 50.8 percent of Donald Trump voters blamed Rock. 

The majority of those who backed another candidate or did not vote also blamed Rock.  

The poll also found that the majority of people who agreed that spanking a child was ‘sometimes necessary’ for discipline believed Rock was at fault while the majority of those who disagreed with the statement faulted Smith. 

Shor also displayed the results in a presidential electoral map, demonstrating that if people voted with how they perceived the slapping incident, Smith would sweep the with 470 electoral votes to Rock’s 68.