Oscar Winner Furious With Chris Rock For Something Else He Said At Awards
By Sarah Tate
March 31, 2022
The confrontation between Will Smith and Chris Rock, now known as "The Slap," may be what viewers remember the most from the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday (March 27), but another Oscar winner also took issue with something the comedian said.
Joseph Patel won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for "Summer of Soul," but the way Rock introduced him along with his co-producers left a lasting impression, per Variety. According to Patel, Rock referred to him and four other producers, aside from Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, as "four white guys."
He posted a now-deleted Twitter thread on Wednesday outlining his feelings over the situation and explaining why his win was part of history.
"The reason that makes me SO SO VERY ANGRY is because I was so proud to be one of a handful of South Asians to have ever won an Oscar in the history of the award," he wrote. "I was ecstatic that I was the 3RD South Asian to win that night — after Riz [Ahmed] and Aneil Karia won earlier in the night for [best live action short winner] "The Long Goodbye." Three South Asians winning on the same night — that's never happened before! And it's meaningful! It's history!"
He continued, "I got back home to New York last night and saw the ceremony on my DVR and didn't have the stomach to watch it. I probably never will. Thank you, Chris — You absolute f------ d---."
Patel, who let fans know he was only speaking on his own behalf, concluded his thread by saying the historic moment was stained by the preceding altercation and poor joke.
"I never need a statue to tell me how nice I am — but it sure helps. And what both Will AND Chris did really stained what should have been a beautiful moment for us," he said.
Not long after airing out his grievances, Patel announced he was deleting the tweets after saying "what [he] need to say and feel at peace with it."