Booker T Believes Will Smith Was In The Wrong Slapping Chris Rock

During the most recent episode of the Hall Of Fame Podcast Booker T weighed in on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars.

Smith's decision to react to a joke with violence has become a huge talking point this week, and Booker believes Smith was in the wrong.

"Certain things I might do in private, I am never going to do in public, like slapping Chris Rock. That's something that I might do," he said. "But I am never going to let my peers, and most of Will Smith's peers, are white people, okay? I am just being straight up, I am never going to let them see, what a lot of times they think of us. That we are just angry black men.

"For Will Smith to go on stage and slap another black man, it just bites me. There's no way that I can sugarcoat it, there's no way that I can sit here and try to put a spin on it or anything like that. He was wrong on every sense of the word."

Booker T then questioned whether or not Will Smith would have done the same to a white man. The wrestling legend believes he did it because Chris Rock is lower on the totem pole.

"Would Will Smith have got up on stage and slapped a white man? That's the question, it really is," he said. "I know people don't want to talk about that, or avoid that kind of stuff, but hell no he wouldn't have done it. The only reason he did it was because it was Chris Rock. A black man that's beneath him, that's lower than him on the totem pole."

Mick Foley commented on the situation on Twitter, claiming Will wouldn't have done that to The Rock. That is a statement that Booker T agrees with due to The Rock's size and status.

"Yeah, I agree 100 percent," he said. "Just because you've got a 260-pound man on the stage that can protect himself. He's an A-lister as well, he's high on the totem pole, he's high on the pecking order. So, you're going to watch yourself a little bit closer, and I say that's one of the reasons Will Smith did what he did. Because Chris Rock is not at the level as far as Hollywood goes, as Will Smith."

Booker T then recalled a time when he was left feeling angry, wanting to fight someone. This happened when Christian punched him in the eye during a match. The Hall Of Famer said he ended up sorting the situation backstage.

"I was in a match with Christian, he hit me in the eye so hard I wanted to fight him inside the ring, on national television. But I knew I couldn't do that," Booker said. "Immediately when I came through that curtain, I pulled that brother to the side and I said, 'let me talk to you for a sec.' I would have really looked stupid having a real fight with Christian on television, I really would have. Because really, a real fight on television doesn't look that good when two guys aren't professionals."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the Hall Of Fame podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.