Reuters
When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, many Americans took to social media to weigh in on the shocking broadcast and make their feelings known.
But a small subset of those Americans took things a step further, with dozens complaining to the Federal Communications Commission directly about the stunning Oscars moment.
Some were angry at the violence they saw on national television, others seethed over the profanity that was broadcast into millions of homes, and others had oddly specific complaints about how the broadcast handled the slap.
Insider obtained the complaints through a Freedom of Information Act request filed on Monday.
Many readers expressed indignation at the presentation of violence at an event that is normally a peaceful celebration of the year's best films.
"I was floored when I saw Will Smith slap Chris Rock," wrote one complainant from Detroit, Michigan, attempting to stick the landing on a Helen Lovejoy impression. "Violence is never the answer. What about the children?
For many of the complainants, the issue was not the violence so much as the profanity. Though the words were muted on the broadcast, eagle-eyed lip readers easily sussed out what Smith shouted.
"Will Smith said fuck live on air during the Oscars," was the full extent of one complaint about the ceremony from a viewer in Terrell, Texas.
"Not only did the show contain a violent assault on air but it also failed to censor the vulgar rant afterwards that explicitly contained the four-letter "F" word," wrote a reader from Boerne, Texas.
Texans were not unique in their particular concern over profanity.
"I was shocked by the swearing and violence displayed by Will Smith at the Academy Awards on March 27th," wrote another appalled viewer from Milford, Connecticut. Clarifying their ire, they added "You can clearly see him saying 'Fucking.' "
Rock had a number of defenders among the FCC complainers.
"Chris Rock was joking and I did not find the specific joke about Will's wife distasteful," said a viewer hailing from East Point, Georgia. "Additionally, Will Smith's profanity at the Oscars was also shameful."
One complainant hailing from Frederick, Maryland was aggravated not by the profanity but rather ABC's pulling of the live captioning of the event, which they argued was inappropriate. They were upset that they missed out.
"I had to wait until the next day to find out what was said during that portion of the Oscars, from the news articles," the viewer wrote.
There wasn't a consensus among the complaints about who bore the responsibility for airing the content they considered inappropriate.
Smith certainly got most of the blame, but others saw systemic issues at play.
Some pointed the finger at ABC, the broadcaster, and its parent company, Disney.
"Disney/ABC is to blame, those cameras were still allowed this to air," said a complainant from St. Louis, Missouri.
One viewer from Los Angeles argued that the blame should fall on the Oscars.
"The FCC should ban the Oscars from every airing again the save the American people from having to watch the terrible, terrible garbage. Please arrest them immediately," they said, seemingly unaware that the FCC has no power to arrest producers for putting on a disappointing show.
The LA complainant had another — though likely off-topic proposals — for the Federal Communications Commission, adding "Also, please arrest Rob Reiner for bad TV."
Rob Reiner wasn't involved in the Oscars telecast; it's not clear what Rob Reiner did to earn the complainant's ire.
