Rapper T.I. confronted female comedian Lauren Knight on stage at an Atlanta comedy club over a joke about allegations against him and his wife. This comes on the heels of Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock on stage at The Oscars. Fortunately for both parties at the Edgewood, Atlanta bar, nobody was actually assaulted. But the confrontation did become somewhat physical. Will Smith appears to have started a trend that another famous comedian, Sheryl Underwood, sort of predicted. Underwood, who is also a host on a daytime talk show called “The Talk”, said she is afraid of someone emerging from the audience and slapping her over a joke they don’t like. Will Smith has opened a door that may be very difficult to close.
The situation with T.I. and Lauren Knight started when T.I. decided to do a 30 to 45 minute set of his own. The bar is open-mic, so he didn’t really intrude on anyone’s space by hopping on stage. To perform a set for that long at an open mic might be a violation of common courtesy, but not necessarily enough for any sort of confrontation. After he gets off stage, Lauren (who is also the host) goes into a bit about marriage before introducing the next comic.
T.I. is apparently not finding Lauren’s jokes funny and he then begins to heckle her from the crowd, loudly. He used expletives and repeatedly told her to remove her wig. This is according to Knight’s words, witness accounts, and even some surveillance video. Knight responds to the comment about her wig by saying “I’ll take the wig off when you address the allegations”. This was referring to the aforementioned sexual assault allegations against him and his wife that made the news. Her comeback was enough to spark T.I.’s fury.
Will Smith opened a door for weak and effeminate men to react emotionally rather than simply using their brains. Being offended at a joke is not a valid reason to approach someone with violence or the threat of violence. The problem is that Will Smith did get some level of praise for slapping Chris Rock over the Jada Pinkett joke. And there are people who want to get the same praise. Or they use the Will Smith incident as justification to give in to their lower self. Rapper T.I. appears to have done exactly that. Fortunately, no one was hurt. This may not be the case for regular people out in the street who are now given a false sense of empowerment.
SOURCES:
T.I. Gets Into Shouting Match With ATL Comedian Over Sex Assault Jokes | Black America Web
The Talk – Paula Abdul ‘stands with’ Jim Carey; Sheryl Underwood ‘afraid’ to do Standup After Chr… – YouTube
Chappelle’s Show – R. Kelly’s “Piss on You” Video – YouTube
Lauren Knight 🌈⚔️ (@sheslaurenk) • Instagram photos and videos
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