Popular Podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan recently discussed the now-infamous Chris Rock – Will Smith incident with MMA pioneer BJ Penn. Rogan is known for his blunt and honest opinions on even the most controversial topics. While this approach has landed him in several controversies over the years, the 52-year-old has refused to maintain political correctness and adhered to his stand on a lot of these issues.
Legendary actor Will Smith won the best actor award for his portrayal of Richard Williams in the movie King Richard. Instead of this achievement, Smith grabbed headlines for slapping comedian Chris Rock at the 94th Oscar awards ceremony. The incident took place when Chris Rock compared Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett-Smith with GI Jane due to her baldness.
Jada’s baldness is due to an autoimmune disease called Alopecia Areata that causes the person to lose all or some of their body hair. While Chris Rock was unaware of this, the joke visibly upset Jada.
Will Smith, who initially laughed at the joke, got upset after watching Jada Pinkett-Smith. He walked up to the stage and slapped Chris Rock. Smith apologized for his actions during the speech. However, the incident has been raging in the media and on the internet ever since.
Joe Rogan and BJ Penn discuss Will Smith’s actions
Joe Rogan recently invited former UFC Lightweight champion BJ Penn, on his JRE MMA podcast. Penn is one of the pioneers of MMA and he was crucial in expanding the sport’s footprint when it was struggling to find its place in the mainstream. The lightweight division is considered the home to some of the best talents in MMA. Penn is one of the only three champions that defended their title three times in the division’s history, the other two being Khabib Nurmagomedov and Frankie Edgar.
As Joe Rogan was talking about Jamie Foxx playing Mike Tyson’s role in an upcoming movie, BJ Penn drew attention to Will Smith’s portrayal of Mohammad Ali in the 2001 biopic Ali.
“You can tell (Will Smith) did a lot of boxing. His hands looked good,” Joe Rogan replied.
Following this, Penn poked fun at the Will Smith-Chris Rock incident and said:
“Right, his hands looked good the other night.”
The duo laughed heartily at Penn’s witty remark. Joe Rogan then drew attention to Smith’s strike and joked that it failed to hurt Chris Rock.
“I think that needs some work. It didn’t even stagger Chris Rock,” Joe Rogan said.
The internet has been swarming with the jokes related to the oscar incident. BJ Penn echoed one of the trending jokes and said:
“You know why he hit Chris Rock because it wasn’t the Rock (Dwayne Johnson).”
Joe Rogan laughed at the idea of Will Smith ever having the courage to physically assaulting Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and said:
“There’s no chance in hell… Such a crazy thing, to think you could get away with it.”
Courtesy of Spotify, you can watch the full JRE MMA podcast episode #123 with BJ Penn HERE.
