Rapper/Actor Will Smith was not having it when a reporter tried to kiss him on the lips at the Moscow premiere of Men in Black 3.
A wacky Ukrainian journalist tried to plant one on Smith on the red carpet, but the star pushed him away and gave him a backhanded bitchslap on the face. Smith tried to stay all smiles but seemed ticked off, saying “He’s lucky I didn’t sucker punch him.”
At first we thought the reporter was trying to goad Smith because of the gay rumors surrounding him, but it turns out smooching celebs is what this guy does.
Though Will continued to smile and sign autographs after the premiere, we wish he hadn’t made the “sucker punch” comment. It just makes him look insecure about his masculinity and sexuality.
Khalil
Umm some dude I don’t know grabs me and tries to kiss me out of the blue I’d prob shove him too and I don’t mind kissing boys in public.
Maybe the “sucker punch” comment was inappropriate but I think it was said without any real malice.
Jeff R
Masculinity and sexuality have nothing to do with this. If it’s unwanted and uninvited, it’s a physical assault. Of course he was entitled to fend it off, with a slap or a punch or whatever.
MKisNE
All the homophobe trolls are commenting on this story. I’m sure they’ll be here too.
IzzyLuna
Get over it, Mr. Avery…
Why did you wish he didn’t make that comment? Whether this reporter “does that” or not, it was rude and violating Will’s personal space. This has nothing to do with being gay or straight. I wouldn’t want anyone to do that to me or I would’ve made the same comment. AND I’M GAY.
IzzyLuna
@SSGestapo: Is that a song lyric cause I choose to express myself with my own words. Thanks and have a great day.
Kev C
I watched it a few times. It looks like a traditional cheek kiss, a custom in french (la bise), italian, and arab culture. What Will Smith did was moronic and insulting.
Riker
@SSGestapo: Despite your whining about unit cohesion, DADT has been gone for a while not and cohesion has not suffered, nor has effectiveness in battle. As of 2011, the last year statistics were reported, all active duty branches of the military met or exceeded their recruitment goals. The DoD has not seen an increase in attrition. Your wild claims have been proven false with cold, hard facts. Pulled directly from the DoD:
Recruiting — Year to Date. All four active services met or exceeded their numerical accession goals for fiscal year-to-date 2011, through December.
Army — 14,533 accessions, with a goal of 14,100; 103 percent
Navy — 7,069 accessions, with a goal of 7,069; 100 percent
Marine Corps — 5,915 accessions, with a goal of 5,895; 100 percent
Air Force — 11,692 accessions, with a goal of 11,692; 100 percent
Retention. All four active services met or exceeded their fiscal year-to-date 2011 retention goals.
Reserve Component.
Recruiting. Five of the six reserve components met or exceeded their numerical accession goals for fiscal year-to-date 2011 through December.
Army National Guard — 14,106 accessions, with a goal of 12,954; 109 percent
Army Reserve — 7,639 accessions, with a goal of 6,949; 111 percent
Navy Reserve — 1,917 accessions, with a goal of 1,917; 100 percent
Marine Corps Reserve — 2,637 accessions, with a goal of 2,266; 116 percent
Air National Guard — 1,564 accessions, with a goal of 1,572; 99 percent
Air Force Reserve — 2,354 accessions, with a goal of 2,340; 101 percent
Attrition. Losses in all reserve components are within acceptable limits.
Aside from that, gay man have served with distinction in every single war America has ever fought. There were gay men in the Continental Army. If you’re not comfortable that gay men have fought and died for centuries to protect your right to whine on the internet, then you can go suck a dick.
DouggSeven
It was wrong to do that to him and Will did the right thing. He shoulda punched him!
Justin
So at one point the guy tries to kiss Will on the mouth, which is definitely way out of bounds. I mean, the hug at first he’s clearly okay with, but then it becomes an unwanted sexual advance. I’m okay with the slap, hell, the guy got off light!
iDavid
“It just makes him look insecure about his masculinity and sexuality”.
Sounds like wishful thinking from an adoring gay fan who wants to do Will and does not understand the concept of healthy boundaries.
This was a boundary violation and Will reacted with security and masculinity, re-establishing his boundaries. Perfect. He reacted no differently than if someone had tried to pick pocket him or a woman had made the same unwanted advances, minus the slap I’m sure.
Codswallop
@SSGestapo: Eat shit and die.
Don’t like facts when they contradict your made-up BS? Too bad. Get over it.
Doug
I like Will even more now
LadyL
Okay I’ve watched that clip a couple of times and… I don’t get what all the fuss is about. Yeah, the reporter was more familiar than is polite, he definitely got in Will’s space there, but come on, it wasn’t an assault. Will Smith has been a star for nearly half his life now. He’s never dealt with overexcited or pushy fans or journalists before? The slap comes off as the overreaction of someone who’s worried that witnesses will get the wrong idea. Or the right one.
Rockery
Yeah, the reporter was out of line. Will was obviously fine with the first kiss, it must have been how he grabbed him
Oh, ok
“Though Will continued to smile and sign autographs after the premiere, we wish he hadn’t made the “sucker punch” comment. It just makes him look insecure about his masculinity and sexuality.”
Do you have a screw loose? It was sexual assault, Will was totally in bounds to do what he did, and then some.
The only one who looks insecure about his masculinity and sexuality is you since you feel the need to deem anyone and everyone gay to feel better about being gay.
Try standing on your own two feet. Be a man.
slaughter
I don’t blame Smith for bitch smacking this reporter. Who would want a kiss from some wet, nasty mouth STRANGER. Smith is way better that I am because I WOULD have punched the reporter’s teeth out. I don’t care how long he’s been a star. Fans, reporters or what have you should learn to respect that star’s personal space.
Kevina
I recall years ago Wesley Snipes took Will Smith to task because he didn’t want to kiss a man in a movie he made I’ve always known Will Smith to be a complete homophobe/asshole. I’ve never liked him.
WitchDoctor
So, in the reverse, if this reporter had been trying to kiss an actress on the lips, and she backed handed him, people would have thought that it was great. Will Smith has the same right to protect himself as any actress or any other person from unwanted groping.
michael
wtf he should not tried that if i was smith i would hit in right in the F**king face!
Jason
I am with Will Smith on this one…what that guy did was uncool. It has nothing to do with your sexuality or masculinity. If someone invades my personal space like that guy did..he definitely would have gotten a beat down.
jason
Will Smith proved that he doesn’t have a sense of humor. I wonder if he would have slapped a female reporter who tried to kiss him like that.
Will’s actions encourage homophobic attacks and bullying. I was very disappointed in him.
brian
Maybe Will Smith is getting a bit concerned by the recent John Travolta allegations spreading to him. I have my sources…nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
Eddie
um… i’m as gay as it gets, but if some weird dude tried to kiss me on my mouth i’d have laid his ass out. it’s called personal space, and the most you get from me is a handshake.
Gay Bacon
Gross! If a girl randomly came up to me and kissed me on the mouth, I’d be pissed. AND that would mean I’m not confident I’m gay either.
tjr101
I would have clobbered that reporter, it was way out of line and downright gross.
@Kevina: I don’t like kissing men or women I’m not close to on the lips, does that make me a self- hating gay heterophobe? Get real people.
Eddie
Will was not out of line. That was an unwanted advance and if someone did that to me, I’d probably knock them the hell out. It was classy of Will. I am a gay male and am not insecure with my masculinity. Unwanted is unwanted.
click
beat they ass will/
beat the shit out them
Blah, bla..huh?
The whole point of equality is to ensure protections for those who wish to remain unmolested. If this guy is trying to make a political point, he failed. That’s because trying to use other human beings as your own personal platform is stupid. Way to go stupid! Leave other people in control of their own person from now on, especially strangers, ok dummy?
brian
Will Smith is uncomfortable about male-male sensuality. Remember when he refused to kiss his male co-star in that movie he made years ago? I think they had to use a body double because Will refused to do it.
I think he’s hiding something.
By the way, if you think slapping someone is OK, don’t complain when another gay kid gets bashed by someone who thought he was was having advances made to him.
Oh, ok
@brian: So you think it’s ok for anyone gay or straight to sexually assault another person? That’s what you’re defending right now.
You’re comparing this to gay kids getting bashed for being gay. Do you have any sense?
MKisNE
This is NOT a sexual assault. There are too many of you to reply to, but come on people you can’t be serious.
Oh, ok
@MKisNE: So it’s alright to try to force someone to kiss you?
You’re the one who can’t be serious.
hamoboy
@MKisNE: So it’s fine to be molested if you’re an attractive straight (let’s just go along with this shall we?) man? What if it were Jada Pinkett-Smith that the reporter was trying to kiss? Jesus christ there are idiots commenting today.
Tackle
While I do think that Will overacted with the slap, (he could have pushed him back) the kiss was unwanted and uninvited. And many seem to not realize, that you cannot just go around kissing people. At any place of work you could get fired for that. And try grabbing someone on the street and kissing them. While not a sexual assault, it is still an assault.
brian
I doubt that Will would have slapped the reporter if it was a she.
Danny Ray
@brian: @brian: – You’re so right about that…I used to have respect for Will Smith…Not anymore…He such as asshole!!!
tookietookie
WIll Smith is gross.
Superman
@Kevina: Speaking of Wesley Snipes, I can’t wait until he gets out of the pokey and back onto the big screen. Despite his legal troubles, he has rated high on my list ever since To Wong Foo (amazing!), and he seems okay with homosexuality.
Will is a great guy too, but this was just an ugly reaction. The push was appropriate, but the bitchslap crossed the line. If he wouldn’t have bitchslapped or sucker punched a woman who was simply trying to kiss him, then why is it okay to do it to a man?
JKB
I think Will is within his rights to smack the guy. However, I would be more than happy to nurse that poor baby’s face back to health. 😛
Bob
When I saw Diana Ross live in Paris, a member of the audience (male) tried to kiss her on the lips as she was coming down the aisle from the back of the theater in her opening number. She bit him and shoved him away all in one movement without missing a beat of the song.
She apologized once she got on stage, saying: “I love you too, baby; I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
I don’t intend any moral or message from this, just that it was impressive how she handled the situation without dropping a beat.
Oh, ok
@Superman: I would’ve bitch slapped him too and most likely wouldn’t have bitch slapped a woman let alone shoved her. Life isn’t fair, lets all grow up, and wake up.
If you’re a man act like a man or get a sex change because no other men are going to treat you the same as a woman. Realize this now or put yourself in a whole lot of trouble because you just can’t get it.
Karl
Ive never been a fan of Will Smith, the Fresh Prick of Bel Air.
All his movies seem to be giving out a ‘message’, whatever it is, whether its how ot bring up kids or how to ‘be a man’. Even the dire ‘I Am Legend’ movie had him borrowing DVDs from a rental store…and then PUTTING THEM BACK when he finished, even tho there was no-one left alive. I mean WTF? WTF?
All his movies consist of ‘Oh My God!’, the same phrase he keeps saying. And I cant stomach his pretentious children or his wife who hangs on his coat tails.
villa viper
@Tackle: Tackle..your people are at it again!!
Hephaestion
@Justin: A sexual advance? Surely you are kidding? This is how men greet eachother in many countries! Y’all don’t get out much, do you???
Will Smith will look like a total moron to much of the world for this.
What a dumbfuck!
Alice
@Kev C: No, it was not moronic nor insulting. It make be a tradtional thing in the Middle East or Europe, but right now they’re in the United States and kissing random people whom you don’t know isn’t really something we do here. Each country has they’re own traditions and cultures, but once you travel to a different country, those traditions don’t naturally apply. What Will Smith wasn’t offensive, it was a natural reaction to the situation. He was obviously pissed and I would have been too if a random stranger came up and tried to kiss me.
jason
How come a lot of you don’t get up in arms about the double standard in America, the one where women frequently kiss each other on the cheek but men don’t? Doesn’t this double standard concern you? It should.
As gay men, you’re being sucker-punched by women and their exploitative natures. Women exploit double standards in order to get preferential treatment, hence the kissing double standard in the States.
Oh, ok
@Hephaestion: I’m sure Will Smith has been to more countries than you have and knows how to greet people from each place he’s been to. Kissing on the lips is not a customary greeting for strangers. If you had bothered to read the article the “reporter” has been doing this as his schtick for years.
So why are you falling back on the “it’s a greeting” argument when it’s clearly not one?
The guy was lucky he didn’t get knocked to the floor.
Danny Valentine
I think the last injection you made regarding Will Smith’s insecurity was stupid and unnecessary. It doesn’t make you insecure for simply expressing your irritation for something. I am a 100% confident in my sexuality and I would probably fret and complain too if another man tried to kiss me on the lip. It sounds like you’re just mad that Will Smith isn’t gay like you are.
Douglas Stephen
Sissy Boy Smith… Get a GRIP!
Douglas Stephen
Nooo Nooo Nooo!!!! Idiot… He could have handled it differently. He is on camera, and should hold back… Not every
FAN is STRAIGHT…
Danny Ray
@jason: YOU’RE ARE THE ONLY ONE WITH COMMON SENSE! I’M SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THE HATERS STANDING UP FOR WILL SMITH! IT’S MAKES ME WANT TO PUKE! I DEBATED WITH A FEW HATEFUL BLOGGERS ON YOUTUBE ON THIS SUBJECT MATTER!!! I EVEN PETITION TO GLAAD ABOUT WILL SMITH’S RECENT BEHAVIOR! FOR SOME STUPID REASON…MOSTLY EVERYONE THINKS THAT THIS IS ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR TO FLAT OUT HIT SOMEONE BECAUSE THE REPORTER TRIED TO KISS ON THE MOUTH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? WAKE UP! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!! THERE ARE ALOT OF BULLIES OUT THERE WHO THINK IT’S OKAY FOR THEM TO HIT AND BASH ANOTHER PERSON BECAUSE HE/SHE IS BELIEVED TO BE GAY? THIS DOESN’T CUT IT AT ALL! I LOST ALL RESPECT FOR WILL SMITH AND I WILL NOT GO AND SEE NOR SUPPORT ANOTHER MOVIE IF WILL SMITH CAST IN THE FILM!!! IT’S OVER!!! NUFF SAID!!!
Aussie Col
Dear me, someone tried to kiss Will. It deserved a push away and maybe a little lip about it being impolite, but a threat of violence for a kiss? Will sucks big time for promoting that an unwanted approach deserves violence. That’s what they claimed about Matt Shepherd, and that’s called Homosexual Panic defense…. Will Smith is douche of the week.
Oh, ok
@Danny Ray: @Douglas Stephen: @Aussie Col: Grow up pervs…or should I say perv since you’re all probably Jason because no one in their right mind ever agrees with him.
ChickenK
eh. I mean I get what a lot of people are saying about it being “sorta kinda sexual assault.” And it was schtick. Which is kind of annoying.
Even if the reporter was joking, though–I still can’t advocate slapping or punching him, y’know? Like–that shouldn’t be the response to an unwanted advance. Unless someone’s being purposely physically aggressive. I’m also very much comfortable with my sexuality, and if someone tried to kiss me–male or female–and I didn’t want it, I would hold them back/move away, and say you’re being rude, no thanks. I don’t think the proper response is a slap in the face. It’s not like the reporter was going to rape him then and there. Like people have commented before me, that’s sending the wrong message to actual homophobic people who think it’s OK to brutally beat some unknowing poor gay guy who’s misread a signal (not the case here, of course–but same idea).
Other than that–it’s just bad to be seen on TV and on YouTube and everywhere else on the internet slapping somebody. haha. he HAD to know that would be the slap heard round the world. silly, silly Will…
Walter
Explain how does it make him insecure to punch someone who tried to assault him again? Gay rights does not mean the right for you to touch me in anyway.
Walter
@jason: wrote “Will Smith proved that he doesn’t have a sense of humor. I wonder if he would have slapped a female reporter who tried to kiss him like that.
Will’s actions encourage homophobic attacks and bullying. I was very disappointed in him.”
wow….
A) a strange man trying to kiss him on the lips is not funny..
B) He wouldn’t..you know why? because he’s not gay..news flash straight men don’t want to be kissed by men
C) i’d argue that reporter will encourage homophobic attacks and bullying since it perpetuates the fear that being around a gay person is dangerous.
I’m disappointed in you
Walter
@brian: wrote “Will Smith is uncomfortable about male-male sensuality. Remember when he refused to kiss his male co-star in that movie he made years ago? I think they had to use a body double because Will refused to do it.
I think he’s hiding something.
By the way, if you think slapping someone is OK, don’t complain when another gay kid gets bashed by someone who thought he was was having advances made to him.”
wait so because a straight guy doesn’t want to kiss another man it makes him gay? what kind of twisted logic is that. if that’s the case then all gay men who don’t kiss women are closet straight people.
Some straight guys may not have a problem with it(are they truly straight then?) but overall no one has to justify or explain who can or can’t touch them.
Walter
All the people including the author who said Will may be hiding something are making the case that homosexuality is a choice..just think about that..
PTBoat
Walter, your logic is a little off. Perhaps you could explain your choice comment because it makes no sense.
PTBoat
@Walter: There are lots of cultures where it is perfectly normal for straight men to kiss each other.
hamoboy
@PTBoat: “There are lots of cultures where it is perfectly normal for straight men to kiss each other.”
Yes there are, I’m from one. And you don’t go planting sloppy ones on any stranger you’re meeting, especially if it’s for something professional. Kissing is supposed to be done between people where there is friendship and kinship. Celebrity Journalist relationships are rarely such.
At the end of the day, this was a gross violation of personal space. If Will smith were a woman instead of a man, the comments section would be singing a different song. In fact, it wouldn’t have rated a mention.
Superman
@Oh, ok: With an attitude like yours–insulting others and advocating violence–don’t bitch when karma sends someone over to knock your teeth down your throat; people like you always get back the ugliness that they dish out in life.
Aussie Col
@Oh, ok: Hahahaha now you’re douche of the week. Maybe Will is right, because you deserve a sucker punch big time. You made my day. And what are you doing talking to perv’s.