By now, the entire world knows about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars . While the fallout has been significant, with Smith withdrawing from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, one lesser-known trickle-down effect of the slap heard ’round the world has been one of mistaken identity.
Will Smith is a pretty common name.
According to an admittedly non-scientific search , there are 36,364 people in the United States named William Smith. As we’ll find out, a few of these Will Smiths have faced some blowback by what the most famous Will Smith did at the Oscars.
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Boos rained down on Dodgers catcher Will Smith.
While the actor Will Smith was applauded at the Oscars, the baseball playing Will Smith, who catches for the Los Angeles Dodgers, wasn’t so lucky. In his first at-bat after the big slap, baseball Will Smith was greeted by boos — done in jest, of course.
Another Will Smith also felt the wrath.
Will Smith, a podcaster and gamer from San Francisco, has a verified Twitter handle: @willsmith . Immediately after the big slap from the famous Will Smith, this less-famous Will Smith indicated that he knew what was coming.
He tried to set things straight.
The very night of the big slap, Will Smith (the podcaster) was already in damage control mode over what Will Smith (the actor) did. Will Smith (the podcaster) is used to this, of course — his personal website is notthatwillsmith.com .
Everyone just assumes Will Smith’s Twitter handle is @willsmith.
Sportswriter Stephen A. Smith had a scorching hot take for his followers on Oscars night. Unfortunately, he tagged the podcaster Will Smith in his tweet which was broadcast to his 5.6 million followers.
It’s a classic case of mistaken identity.
Even more than a week later, Twitter users are still directing their takes at the podcaster Will Smith. This tweet was a response to an innocuous tweet about enjoying pesto.
It shouldn’t be this hard.
There should be some level of understanding that a) Will Smith is a common name, and b) the Twitter page that shows an avatar of a bearded white dude probably isn’t the Will Smith you’re thinking of.
It’s a tough time for people named Will Smith.
The podcaster Will Smith seems to be taking things in stride (I mean, he’s joking about stuff and hasn’t deactivated his Twitter, so that’s something). Soon, people will get sick of talking about the slap, or at the very least direct their takes at the correct Will Smith. Maybe.
What do you think?
I think there’s been enough talk about the slap itself to last us until the sun burns out, so let’s put the takes on the shelf. But we want to know how you’d handle it if someone with the same name as you made news in a big way. Would it stress you out? Would you own it? Share your thoughts in the comments.
