I hate what happened Sunday. I hate that what happened Sunday happened. I hate that Sunday was a violent display of opulence. I hate that no one cared. I hate that everyone cared. I hate that I watched it, and then watched it again, and then slowed it down because I couldn’t believe that it’d happened. I hate that I joined the voices on social media. I hate that my first response was to joke about it. And as much as I hate the hate that hate created, I hate us. All of us.
I hate everything.
I hate Chris Rock and his underwhelming, highly offensive joke.
I hate Will Smith for dragging us into this.
I hate everyone’s hot take except for this one.
I hate hot takes.
I refused to write a hot take because I knew everyone was going to have a hot take.
This is not a hot take. It’s a hate take.
I hate the images. I hate the conversations.
I hate the academy. I hate Roman Polanski.
I hate the misdirection tweets — you know, the ones that start talking about Sunday only to remind us that Antarctica is melting or that Ukraine is at war with Russia.
I hate that we can multitask. So we never forget that Antarctica is melting or that the people of Ukraine are suffering.
But mostly, I hate the celebrities that have joined teams.
Team Will or Team Chris.
I hate teams.
I hate Amy Schumer and her Karen-esque response. I hate that it involved her “being triggered” and “traumatized” or something days after.
I hate how this had nothing to do with her, and yet, here we are.
I hate that this was an actual televised Black-on-Black crime.
I hate that white people now feel comfortable speaking about Black folks’ business.
I hate Diddy for lying.
I hate that at one point I thought Tom Segura was a funny comedian, and then Sunday happened and he felt real comfortable calling Jada Pinkett-Smith a “bald-headed bitch.”
I hate that Black women never feel protected.
I hate that they have to put up with this.
I hate that being starved for protection made some feel like Sunday was called for.
It was not, and I hate that for Black women.
I hate Joe Rogan. He’s got nothing to do with this, but I hate him, too.
Wait, yes he does because he had a hot take and I didn’t read it but I’m sure I hate it.
I hate Red Table Talks.
We are probably going to have a Red Table Talk.
We are definitely going to have a Red Table Talk.
I hate that for us.
I hate the access we have to celebrities. I hate that they can send out whatever they feel in real time. I hate that Sunday happened and now, I hate Zoe Kravitz.
I hate that Black Twitter had CVS receipts for the entire Kravitz family.
I hate everyone in the Kravitz family besides Lisa Bonet.
I will not hate Lisa Bonet.
I hate “toxic masculinity” and “respectability politics.”
I hate camps.
I hate that I can’t decide which camp I’m in.
I hate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s take.
Wait, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had a take?
I really hate that.
I hate OJ Simpson.
I hate Raven-Symoné.
I hate Jim Carrey.
I hate Sophia Bush.
Who on earth is Sophia Bush?
I don’t know, but I hate her.
I hate that everyone is a tough guy, or a psychologist, or a cop, or an apologist.
There’s only one celeb who gets me, and that’s Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter), who — much like me — hates all these celebs and their crappy takes too.
I once loved the openness of the Smith family.
Now I hate it.
I hate entanglements, both as a word and as a song.
I don’t hate August Alsina.
I hate that he came to the Smiths for help.
I hate that Jada took advantage of that situation.
I hate that we don’t talk about that.
I hate that Red Table Talk. The one where Will Smith cried.
I hate that everyone made fun of him for it.
I hate that we saw the other Will Smith because of it.
I hate that Jada didn’t get to stick up for herself.
I hate the way Will walked back to his seat.
I hate that people want to see another Black man arrested.
I hate that they might not be wrong.
I hate that this is all far from over.
I hate it all.
I hate that for us.