WITH emotions still running high following last weekend’s unforgettable slapping incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards, it’s understandable that some fans would have some choice things to say to the stars involved.
However, one man has been caught in the crossfire, all because he happens to share the same name as one of those involved.
Will Smith, a video game streamer who lives in San Franscisco, owns the Twitter account with the @willsmith handle, and has been on the receiving end of some vitriol aimed at the famous actor, who does not have an official Twitter account.
Video game Smith, who has had the Twitter account since 2007, is somewhat used to getting confused with the actor who shares his name. Indeed, his personal website is notthatwillsmith.com, and his Twitter bio also points out that he is “notthatwillsmith.”
The yearslong case of mistaken identity reached a crescendo last Sunday when the slap took place, and a flood of abuse began pouring in towards the hapless video gamer’s Twitter account.
The innocent Smith then posted: “Real talk, I’m not the person you’re upset/happy with. I make podcasts and video games for a living. At the risk of making people pissed off at me instead of that other guy, the world would be a better place if we stopped answering words with violence.”
Since then, he has been continuing to field some of the negative comments directed to his account, even sharing a GIF of a flying bowl of petunias captioned: “Oh no, not again” (a reference to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe).
Even on the thread in which gamer-podcaster Will Smith reiterated that he is not that Will Smith, Twitter users continued to mistakenly @ him. “Give back your Oscar CLOWN,” someone wrote in reply to the GIF.
Sympathising with San Francisco Will Smith’s plight, one observer commented: “Somehow, still this many people are not questioning why the other guy would have a picture of some bearded white dude as their avatar?”
Fortunately, at least one other famous Will Smith has escaped the ire of fans: Los Angeles Dodgers player Will Smith, who has the more generic Twitter handle @will_smith30.
