‘Summer of Soul’ producer bashes Chris Rock’s ‘white guys’ comment, calls Will Smith ‘selfish’
“Summer of Soul” producer Joseph Patel is not taking sides — he’s upset with both Chris Rock and Will Smith following the Oscars slap, which happened moments before he won the award for best documentary.
In a now-deleted Twitter thread, Patel said when he’d returned home after Oscars weekend, he “didn’t have the stomach” to watch the show on DVR after Rock announced the Oscar winner as “Ahmir (Questlove) Thompson and four white guys,” dismissing Patel’s South Asian heritage.
“The reason that makes me SO SO VERY ANGRY is because I was so proud to be one of a handful of South Asians to have ever won an Oscar in the history of the award,” Patel wrote on Twitter.
Tuesday Patel posted a photo on Instagram with Riz Ahmed and Aneil Karia, who won the Oscar for best live action short film with “The Long Goodbye.”
“The 9th, 10th and 11th South Asians to ever win an Academy Award, in any category. The first time three have won in the same night. (I’m eleven),” he wrote.
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All of Patel’s heat didn’t go toward Rock: He also called Smith “selfish” after the “King Richard” star slapped Rock on stage in reaction to the comedian making a joke about wife Jada Pinkett-Smith’s hair. The producer said Smith “robbed” the artists of their winning moments.
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“We reached the unproductive portion of the viral Twitter thread so I’ve deleted it. I said what I needed to say and feel at peace with it. Some of y’all are weirdos,” he wrote.
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Smith released an apology Monday saying he was “out of line” for slapping Rock on stage. Wednesday Rock lightly addressed the melee during a stand-up show in Boston, calling it “the weird thing” and declining to talk about it in detail.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday that the governing body would begin “disciplinary proceedings” against Smith over his behavior.