Hollywood is in the midst of awards season. At the Oscars, Will Smith slapped the silly out of Chris Rock, who cracked a joke about Jada Smith, Will’s wife, and her close-cropped hair (she has an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss). After initially laughing, Smith saw that his wife was upset and went on stage and slapped Rock. Smith won an Oscar for Best Actor shortly afterwards.

Hollywood, of course, has mostly sided with Smith. After all, Hollywood fully stands behind the leftist maxim that words are violence. Rock’s “violent” words were met with physical harm and verbal abuse — actual violence. There are so many reasons why this act on Smith’s part was a deplorable travesty. Here are the most essential.

Our celebs in Hollywood are constantly positioning themselves as our moral superiors. That’s why their awards shows and acceptance speeches are checkered with political talking points and moralizing their ignorant audience. They are definitely not our moral betters, but they do have a very public platform. Smith’s public persona of a gentleman has irrevocably been destroyed. Hollywood’s thinly veiled mask of being a bastion of moral fortitude likewise fell to the floor with the later round of applause for Smith.

Aside from Hollywood being exposed for the Babylon that it is, these applauding stars are also being very shortsighted. They, of all people, should be staunchly on Rock’s side and defend his right to free speech and creativity. By siding with Smith, they declare that they are willing to give up both comedy and freedom of speech, thereby making their jobs more and more obsolete.

It’s no surprise that the leftist elite are happy to go after comics. They have long been trying to cancel Joe Rogan. But the issue of stifling acting and comedy has increasingly become an issue in a broader sense with the new woke rule in the movie industry that actors and actresses need to be a particular identity to get roles they want. Andrew Garfield recently got in trouble for not being gay and yet playing a gay character. This is a big no-no to the woke overlords.

Besides lacking a sense of humor, Will Smith’s assault on Chris Rock was also construed as “justified” by the audience because Smith was defending his lady. On the surface, this might seem noble … except that it’s not. True nobility would be acting like a professional and letting the joke slide.

This labeling of Smith’s slap as “nobility” reveals a deeper need of these jaded stars who are craving true manliness from male role models. Smith slapping Rock for a relatively tame joke is not manliness.

The possibility of consequences are still coming down the pike for Smith. On Monday, the Academy convened to review the rules of conduct, but the inquiry “will take a few weeks.” Smith could possibly lose his Oscar. Smith has since written a letter of apology to Rock. If accepted, the Academy may dispense with any further disciplinary action. Talk about privilege.

The hunt for heroic, manly men though is still ongoing. Elon Musk recently challenged Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to a duel on social media with the stakes being Ukraine. A duel, though an ancient method of conflict resolution, only works if your opponent is a man of honor.

It harkens back to an era when rules to warfare and conduct were the hallmarks of civilization. Musk is increasingly a man who fights for his more libertarian beliefs in a tangible way, and his sincerity is evident. He has also recently mentioned that he might take on Twitter after the social media platform’s outrageous banning of The Babylon Bee for a satirical post. Musk said that Twitter “fundamentally undermines democracy” in its active suppression of conservative views.

In this sense, Elon Musk is Will Smith’s opposite. He is all about defending freedom, not slapping a comedian into submission.

It is a difference of an understanding of decorum and using high-profile public platforms to make the world a better place. In this contest, Musk (and arguably Rock for his playing off the slap like a pro) is winning. In the words of our manliest president, President Theodore Roosevelt, “If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble.”