Big Picture, Bad Takes, Big Gap, Jokes

CNN's Sara Sidner criticized the degree of attention being given to the news of Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock during the Oscars. Appearing on Monday’s New Day, Sidner first had a message for Smith: “Use your words, Will.”

“You’re a smart guy. Use your words, not your fists or your hands. It’s that simple,” Sidner said.

Sidner noted that Smith “was laughing at first until (Jada Smith) clearly wasn’t, rolled her eyes and then he gets up and goes and does this. But it really took away so much from everybody that was there and from the moment.”

But Sidner turned her attention to the uproar itself, criticizing the extent and tenor of the coverage and the absurdity when put in perspective.

"I have to be honest, I’m a little embarrassed that I’m even talking about this right now. We’ve got inflation that is crushing families. We have millions of refugees who are running for their lives trying to find refuge, mothers and children, and we’ve got Ukraine which is literally on fire and being bombed," she said. "This was a moment that did not need to happen. And now it’s trending on Twitter instead of a thousand other things that are far more important."

Perspective is so important. Without it you get very bad takes (see loser column) and unintended consequences. Plus, disproportionate coverage for any reason undermines credibility; something the press really has trouble remembering.

Sidner's new CNN+ show is appropriately named The Big Picture. That's exactly what she's trying to remind everyone to think about here.

The sea of bad takes and off-key reactions to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars has not yet run dry, as two hosts of The Five ably demonstrated Monday afternoon.

Jesse Watters and Jeanine Pirro both chose commentary that went directly to the race of the two actors involved, in a pair of hot takes that turned heads.

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen the media cover Black-on-Black crime, so I’m actually quite surprised by this,” said Watters of the slap. “If Mel Gibson had done this, Nancy Pelosi would be kneeling in the capital right now. He would be the only guy not being allowed out on bail in L.A. County.”

“I think that the Oscars are not the hood,” Pirro said about the controversy. “I think it’s not a bar. I don’t think you march up on stage because a guy makes a joke of your wife, which honestly I think is complimentary. She could do G.I. Jane 2. Jada Smith is–she’s got a fabulous body and she’s beautiful as was Demi Moore in that film.”

Really? "The hood"?

Pirro lamented, as a number of people reacting to the incident have, that Smith committed an assault, and she added he's lucky he wasn't taken out "in handcuffs."

Watters extrapolated further, saying "The fact that the L.A. Sheriff didn’t haul this guy out of their at the next commercial break explains why they’re such a huge crime problem in this country."

It's hard to stand out for a hot take in a celebrity fight already blown out of proportion. But Pirro and Watters making bringing in race have once again managed to do it.