Stand-up comedians will need to be careful now, lest they offend some Will-Smith-wannabe in the audience who thinks it's macho to deck the entertainer for poking fun at a spouse or girlfriend.
Imagine, for example, that Billy Crystal had been hosting this year’s Oscars and had cracked the same joke that Chris Rock did.
Would Will Smith have hit a little Jewish guy? A white guy? On national tv? And if so, how would the world have reacted?
Why hasn't Will Smith been arrested?
You can't say it's because Chris Rock doesn't want to press charges. The victim doesn't have to file a complaint with the police in order for a criminal case to be pursued. Can't George Gascón, the Los Angeles County District Attorney, go after Will Smith on his own, whether Chris Rock wants to go the legal route or not?
15.4 million people watched the Oscars last night. So the issue can't be that there are no witnesses or that no witnesses will "come forward." We all saw what happened. What does it say about the rule of law in this country that one man can commit a battery in public, in full view of millions, and not be touched by the legal system for his crime? It is a crime, in every state in the Union, to haul off and hit someone, even if that someone just called your bald wife bald!