Will Smith vs. Chris Rock - Who's to Blame?

Most of us watched the video of Will Smith attacking Chris Rock last weekend for his perceived slight of Smith's wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith.

As far as I could tell, the rest of the Oscars - not to mention the rest of this past week - was all about Will Smith and Chris Rock... How did they feel about what happened?  

How did everyone around them feel?

... It was NOT about the Oscar winners, whose perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shine last week were completely overshadowed by a totally unforeseen controversy.

And it was certainly not about Jada.  

A bit of background - you may or may not know that Jada has been very public about her struggle with a condition known as alopecia.

While the cause(s) of alopecia are not well understood, it is generally considered to be a natural form of pattern hair loss.  

It occurs in about 50% of men and about 25% of women, and of course, it becomes more common with age.

While there were certainly those who came to her defense, the media at large didn't really pay much attention to how JADA must have been feeling both during, and in the aftermath of, last weekend's events.

Instead, it was all about Will Smith and "his people" and Chris Rock and "his people".

Did you actually catch the video of what happened?

Did you note how genuinely shocked Chris appeared to be by the intensity of Smith's reaction?

I don't know for sure, but I'm going go out on a limb and surmise that Chris had no idea that Jada had been struggling with alopecia, and that it's almost certainly been a painful issue for her for some time - especially as a well-known public figure.

No, I'm going to give Chris the benefit of the doubt and guess that had he known, he would not have made that particular joke at Jada's expense.

Now... Chris may not have known, but you know you WOULD know how painful this issue has been for Jada?  

Well, of course, none other than her husband Will.  He lives with her every single day.  

He's seen Jada at her highs and lows, and he himself has probably suffered deeply watching Jada suffer.  

I'm not here with you today to render any kind of judgement as to Mr. Smith's behavior at the Oscars.  

That's something for him and his family to work out.  

But I AM here to assure you that Glei and I have been in the trenches with trichotillomania sufferers from around the world for the last 15+ years, and we intimately know - as do you - just how painful hair loss issues can be for someone trapped in the cycle of chronic hair-pulling.  

... not to mention how heart-wrenching it can be for family members who have no earthly idea how to even BEGIN to help their loved one.

Time for the rest of the world to catch on.  

Hair loss hurts.  

Let's hope this recent series of events at the Oscars is the impetus for a new level of awareness among the media and the populace in general.  

It is NEVER something to be joked about.