Social media was buzzing on Monday morning after Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock in the face at the Oscars. Rock made a “G.I. Jane” joke referring to Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her lack of hair. Later in the show, Smith accepted the award for Best Actor, an honor he may have to return after violating The Academy’s code of conduct. The Academy tweeted: “The Academy does not condone violence of any form.” KISS frontman Paul Stanley was among those weighing in on the situation. “Wait… Chris Rock makes a bad joke about Jada Pinkett’s appearance,” Stanley tweeted. “Will Smith walks onstage hits him in the face shouts out obscenities & later in tears accepts an Oscar saying “Love makes you do crazy things” to a STANDING OVATION?!? WTF Hollywood. That’s not WOKE. That’s WEAK.”
Director Judd Apatow said after the Oscars in a now-deleted tweet: “He could have killed him. That’s pure out of control rage and violence. They’ve heard a million jokes about them in the last three decades. They are not freshman in the world of Hollywood and comedy. He lost his mind.” Former Judas Priest singer Tim “Ripper” Owens also reacted to the slap tweeting: “So the NBA removes fans for heckling the players & the Oscars let’s the hecklers who walk on stage & assault the host stay…I think we have some issues. Fresh prince better remove all those your momma so fat jokes from the old show because now all the kids w/ fat moms can slap him.”
KISS recently revealed that KISS Kruise XI, departing from Los Angeles on Oct. 29, 2022, will mark the band’s “last onboard performance,” according to a Facebook post. “We’re gonna have great bands. We’re gonna a great time,” singer/guitarist Paul Stanley said. “Everybody says, ‘When is it gonna be the last one?’ Well, this is KISS Kruise XI, and you don’t want to miss it for a whole lotta reasons. I want you there. You deserve to be there. Be there.”
In an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Stanley said that the band will call it a career by the beginning of 2023. “I believe strongly by the beginning of 2023 we will be finished,” Stanley said. “It seems only natural [for the last show] to be in New York. That is where the band started, and that was really the background for the band getting together and writing these songs, and played loft parties and played clubs starting with an audience of probably 10 people. It seems we should go full circle.”
