Will Smith’s Chris Rock slap ‘perpetuated stereotypes about the Black community,’ NBA legend says

'The Five' panel discusses Hollywood's response to Smith's Oscars outburst.

NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ripped Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock during the Academy Awards in a lengthy essay posted Tuesday on his SubStack.

The Basketball Hall of Famer wrote that Smith’s slap had a reverberating effect on the entertainment industry and the Black community as a whole.

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Will Smith as William "Will" Smith, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as himself on the set of the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." (Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank)

"When Will Smith stormed onto the Oscar stage to strike Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife’s short hair, he did a lot more damage than just to Rock’s face. With a single petulant blow, he advocated violence, diminished women, insulted the entertainment industry, and perpetuated stereotypes about the Black community," he wrote.

Abdul-Jabbar, who once cold-cocked Kent Benson in retaliation for getting hit in the stomach during a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks in the 1970s, disagreed with the notion that Smith’s action was chivalrous in any way.

"Actually, it was the opposite. Smith’s slap was also a slap to women. If Rock had physically attacked Pinkett Smith, Smith’s intervention would have been welcome. Or if he’d remained in his seat and yelled his post-slap threat, that would have been unnecessary, but understandable," he wrote. "But by hitting Rock, he announced that his wife was incapable of defending herself—against words. From everything I’d seen of Pinkett Smith over the years, she’s a very capable, tough, smart woman who can single-handedly take on a lame joke at the Academy Awards show."

Will Smith cries as he accepts