The slap heard around the world occurred when Will Smith smacked Chris Rock in the face at the 2022 Oscars.
It seems the whole planet has an opinion on the altercation, including Bachelor Nation’s Demi Burnett.
While many have made arguments in defense of Chris Rock, Demi appears to be fully on Will Smith’s side as she slammed Chris Rock for a joke that she deemed to be not just insensitive but ableist, misogynistic, and evil.
Demi Burnett calls out Chris Rock’s ‘toxic’ joke and defends Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith
Demi Burnett took to her Instagram stories to emphasize her issue with Chris Rock’s Oscar joke in which he teased Jada-Pinkett Smith for being bald, despite her suffering from alopecia.
Demi shared, “The slap was an indicator of how serious it is…of how serious, I mean for me it’s like how serious I am, how tired I am about the joke being at woman’s expense every time, every time, every time and it’s not funny. It’s not funny. Nothing about women in pain is funny. It’s a serious problem. It’s all ableism. And it’s that serious.”
Sharing that the whole situation was stressing her out, Demi continued, “I’m frustrated because people are just focusing so much on the fact that he slapped him. Maybe slapping some sense into him, basically. It’s not the slap that’s what we should be focusing on.”
Detailing what she feels people should be focusing on, Demi stated, “We should be focusing on the fact that, no matter who said it, who wrote it, if it was him, if it was the Oscars, whoever the Oscars is, that is a way that people are thinking. They think it’s ok to think that way. That is so toxic, harmful, painful, ableist, misogynistic.”
Demi also wrote over the clip, “‘I disagree with the joke but’ is not enough for me. It’s mind blowing how some men are only focusing on will smith’s behavior and how it was violent and not saying a word about how f***ed up and abelist the ‘joke’ was.”
Demi Burnett connects the Oscars moment to ‘white supremacy’
Demi expressed feeling the Oscars moment reflected white supremacy, stating, “White supremacy…who do white supremacists…who do they not like? They do not like women, and they do not like people of color. They do not like Black people. A Black woman and her autoimmune disorder being the butt of the joke – That is what we should be focusing on. That is a problem! That is evil. That is cruel. I like can’t. Get over the slap. Focus on why he was so mad [and] what caused the slap.”
Demi also wrote over the photo, “And to the men who are acknowledging will smith and the ableism/misogyny he stood up against – I see you. Thank you,” adding “you don’t have to be disabled to experience ableism.”
The Bachelor is currently on hiatus.