NYC Mayor Eric Adams DEFENDS Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars

NYC Mayor Eric Adams DEFENDS Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars and says ‘one bad day shouldn’t define your entire career’

  •  Mayor Eric Adams called Smith ‘an amazing actor, humanitarian’ and ‘a real leader’
  •  He doesn’t condone violence, he said, but 
  •  Adams compared his reaction to a Saturday Night Live skit spoofing the mayor to Rock’s joke. ‘I had to laugh with it,’ he said
  •  New Yorkers say they want the mayor to focus on the city’s crime and homeless problems

New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock during the Oscars, saying the ‘King Richard’ actor should keep his award because he was simply having a ‘bad day.’

‘Will Smith has been an amazing actor, humanitarian, he’s a real leader,’ Adams said responding to a question from the host. ‘I think he had a bad day. I don’t believe we should define his entire life [by the slap.]’

Hollywood has been awash in hot takes on the slap from everyone from former L.A. Laker great Kareem Abdul Jabar to ’40-year-old Virgin’ director Judd Apartow.

For his part, Adams doesn’t condone the hit, but understands what motivated the actor. 

Smith said he slapped Rock for joking about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s close-cropped haircut.

‘Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane II,’ Rock joked. Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss.

‘Sometimes when you’re dealing with an illness in a loved one you become emotional and sometimes we have to think through our actions and not react through our passions,’ said Adams. 

The mayor doesn’t approve of what he did.

‘Violence is never the answer,’ Adams said.

Best Actor award-winner Will Smith said that he slapped Chris Rock because he was defending his wife

Oscar viewers were stunned when Will Smith assaulted Chris Rock because the comedian joked about Jada Pinkett Smith's buzzcut hairdo

Oscar viewers were stunned when Will Smith assaulted Chris Rock because the comedian joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s buzzcut hairdo

Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss

Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss

The mayor said that he had to bite his tongue when he was teased on TV.

‘It’s a painful moment. This is the life we’re in. They did a skit on me on Saturday night Live. I had to laugh with it,’ he told host Rosana Scotto. 

 She asked if this means that Smith will have to forfeit his Best Actor Academy Award.

‘I don’t think he should,’ Adams said. ‘The worst day in our life should not be the description of our entire life. 

‘I have bad days. I don’t want to be defined by ‘Hey, Eric you did something inappropriate, let’s forget everything you have done.’

'I don't think he should,' Adams said. 'The worst day in our life should not be the description of our entire life. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said when asked if Smith should lose his Oscar

‘I don’t think he should,’ Adams said. ‘The worst day in our life should not be the description of our entire life. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said when asked if Smith should lose his Oscar

Adams went on Fox 5's Good Day New York on Wednesday where he defended Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock

Adams went on Fox 5’s Good Day New York on Wednesday where he defended Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock

Folks on Twitter disagreed. Most thought that he should stick to running New York and fix the city’s growing crime problem.

‘Eric ADAMS needs to spend more time putting the pieces back to New York…#StayInYourLane,’ Washington Times commentator Bruce LeVell said.

Twitter poster Steve O’Hagan said that the mayor is just inviting more violence in the city.

‘And Adams wonders why there are so many shootings in his city…A joke leads to a slap and then that will eventually lead to a shooting,’ O’Hagan tweeted. ‘But according to him that’s ok it was just someone having a bad day.’

Another poster wondered how the mayor would like whack across the mouth.

 ‘I wonder if Mayor Adams would feel the same if he was slapped on the face for saying something a person disagreed with,’ Cknyc mused.

Crime in New York has put the city’s economic recover on ice. New York City Police Department crime statistics show that felonies have risen nearly 60 percent last month compared to the same period a year ago. 

Overall crime in the city is up more than 45 percent since the same period last year

Overall crime in the city is up more than 45 percent since the same period last year

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