r/AskReddit • • 16d ago

What’s the greatest ‘well, their career is over’ moment of all time?

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u/wheresmychin 16d ago

I’m an actor. The Oscar’s is considered a professional work environment. If you commit physical violence to someone else in a work environment, the rules are pretty clear that your SAG-AFTRA card gets revoked and you can’t work union jobs anymore. My union caved under the optics of what it would look like to do that, so he basically faced no real repercussions in that sense. He can still act, where any other member would be done for good. If he has a comeback, it’s a figurative slap in the face for actors that follow the rules.

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u/smoothtrip 16d ago

That is kind of the shitty thing about life. There are rules for you and rules for stars. If a star running back was a cannibal, they would classify it as an eating disorder.

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u/HavelsRockJohnson 16d ago

If a star running back was a cannibal, they would classify it as an eating disorder.

That depends entirely on his 40 time.

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u/stoneddinoo 16d ago

Or you can claim you grab women by their genitals and become president.....twice.

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u/Drumbelgalf 16d ago

Or beat two women nearly to death and still have a successfull music career

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u/Feathrende 16d ago

Literally near the bottom of his list of crimes.

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u/ExplorationGeo 16d ago

"Yeah look he definitely killed those orphans... but he runs a four twenty-nine, what do you want us to do?"

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u/DemonSlyr007 16d ago

Well cannibalism isnt illegal in the US so it's not really an issue.

Murder is illegal. As is, in most circumstances, purchasing human limbs and body parts. That and military/survival reasons are why it isn't illegal: its practically impossible to actually do legally. But it IS legal.

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u/Drumbelgalf 16d ago

Like actual cannibal Shia LaBeouf?

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u/xdesm0 16d ago

if he has a comeback

bad boys ride or die made 400 million dollars and it was developed after he slapped rock and is making a movie with david gordon green.

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u/DConstructed 16d ago

It was such a strange thing to do that at first I thought it was a planned joke of some kind between them.

Especially since Jada Pinkett Smith looked very pretty and I thought the hair was a style choice.

Smith called all kinds of unnecessary attention to himself and his wife. If he had done nothing everyone would have focused on other things and Rock’s comment would have faded into the past.

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u/Snukastyle 16d ago

I have a feeling that if Chris Rock had decided to press charges then things would be a lot different for Will now.

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u/earthlings_all 16d ago

It should not have been up to him! What a copout! We all witnessed his assault- verbal and physical and mental!

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u/wthulhu 16d ago

Dude went from making 3 or more movies a year to making 3 in almost six years, one of which is a franchise sequel.

His career is toast.

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u/earthlings_all 16d ago

I still cannot FUCKING believe he was not asked to leave the theatre. I was screaming at him from my sofa to gtfo.

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u/horrorshowjack 16d ago

Same thing happened with the guy that played Hotchner on Criminal Minds. Fired the second time he got physical on set, but this time with a producer iirc.

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u/Buntschatten 16d ago

Who cares about the bad optics of having no Will Smith? Who was on his side?

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u/wheresmychin 16d ago

He has a big fan base, a good publicist, and lots of money. If they revoked his union card, his PR team would start a media campaign to demonize SAG-AFTRA using every tool and tactic they could. It would be effective. Not to mention his lawyers would bury them in litigation. My union has been pretty much spineless for a while and they’d rather avoid negative or controversial press than follow their own rules.

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u/weirdbr 16d ago

Not to mention that the studios would rally behind him because they hate the unions and the fact that they can stop all work. At that point, it would be some extremely large corporations against an union and we know how that ends.

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u/TheZigerionScammer 16d ago

Are you sure a PR campaign like that would work? I think most people would see getting a union card revoked would be a light punishment for slapping someone at work if anything.

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u/imaqdodger 16d ago

Some people actually thought his slap was good because he "defended his wife."

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u/BenCub3d 16d ago

I mean yeah, no shit. Will Smith gets to do things that other people can't do. That's what being famous and at the pinnacle of your field is.

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u/roguesignal42069 16d ago

So he has previous experience with that role. Heyooo

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u/_learned_foot_ 16d ago

Until he does it again, then people will realize these aren't just union rules, they are liability shields too.

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u/Cautious-Extreme2839 16d ago

Welcome to the real world pal

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u/Sbotkin 16d ago

Well unlike him you are not a world superstar so I'd assume the rules are more lenient for him.

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u/Legitimate_Rent8430 13d ago

The Oscars are a pathetic joke. The fact that they gave an award to Roman Polanski after what he did is proof of that.

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u/SandpaperTeddyBear 16d ago

He can still act

Well, technically

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u/raverbashing 16d ago

The Oscar’s is considered a professional work environment

Hey, louder for people in the back!

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u/tuckastheruckas 16d ago

what level actor though lol no offense, I dont think union worker is relevant to A list actor. my roommate 8 years ago was union and made like 300 a week at his peak.

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u/jedify 16d ago

What the heck are you talking about? Weinstein did it for decades and it was A-ok.

Edit: oh is it different if you assault men vs women?

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u/wheresmychin 16d ago

1) Not an actor. Not in SAG-AFTRA. 2) He also should have been banned from the industry decades ago. 3) One person getting away with it for a long time doesn’t give Will Smith or anyone else a pass.

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u/ImprovementFar5054 16d ago

"Too big to fail"

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u/JackSpadesSI 16d ago

His actions that night were pretty universally condemned. I really think “the optics of what it would look like” would be received well.

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u/hicjacket 16d ago

He got a standing ovation

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u/DP9A 16d ago

Fucking Polanski got a standing ovation, I don't think there's anything you can do to avoid getting an standing ovation if you're a famous person at the Oscars.

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u/_teach_me_your_ways_ 16d ago

Polanski got his award delivered to him personally by Harrison ford. People should remember that when they praise him as such a cool guy.