An Oscar night that should have affirmed Serena and Venus’s rise to stardom instead played out in a way they have seen before — triumph tempered by mixed emotions.
Whatever you make of the slap, the telecast as a whole was a frustrating night of television that seemed based on a misunderstanding of what makes films great.
When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Academy Awards for telling a joke about his wife, it divided Hollywood, sparking denunciations, defenses and debates.