I think there is a lot to ponder here in this situation and some of it is getting glossed over in bits.
Chris Rock has literally been a paid, professional, high level comedian for some three decades, so if we could for just one minute strip away the emotion, the guy was literally hired specifically for this role.
He wasn't a random celebrity that got up on stage and said something personally offensive on a whim. He's a guy that was hired to MC the show and crack jokes and he was hired on the basis of a life time of work doing precisely that.
Meanwhile, on live television and then spread like wildfire across social media, we have the offended party who literally assaults him without question.
Will Smith is a large guy and he's got a long reach and a large hand. Props to Chris Rock for taking the slap like a man and not only handling the physical assault, but ROLLING like a seasoned professional with the show.
Will Smith later gives a teary eyed and extremely emotional acceptance speech for his award and doesn't say even half a peep that might be construed as an apology, but certainly gives full effort with regards to all the pressure he feels he is under.
The article/recap I read said that any celebrity of note that showed any care towards the event was in consoling Will Smith.
Chris Rock elected to press no charges.
Looks like planet Earth got to see a black man violently assaulted and it is the news of the day.
I don't know where one would go to find the public consensus, but it seems like the S&W Forum consensus is on the side of Will Smith for "standing up to a bully."
I'm not on that team. I would be far more convinced in that argument if Will Smith confronted Chris Rock back stage rather than a cheap shot slap on live TV.
It's also duly noted that allllllllll of us regular folks couldn't care one tiny little bit what the Hollywood Elite do on a Sunday night and I completely agree that all of them live in a different world than we do, and yet here we are posting about it. Even the folks who claim to care zero about it are posting in the discussion.