Kansas backs Will Smith over Chris Rock in Oscars spat, Twitter data finds
(The Hill) – Most of America is taking Chris Rock’s side after the comedian was slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars, but several states in the middle of the country have the “Men in Black” star’s back.
A map released Tuesday by the sports gambling company BetOnline.ag based on geotagged Twitter data shows 41 states support Rock in the very public drama, while nine states including Kansas are firmly in Smith’s camp.
At the 94th annual Academy Awards on Sunday, Smith took to the stage and struck Rock after he made a joke about the “King Richard” actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
The online betting firm tracked more than 200,000 tweets that included hashtags such as #TeamChris or #TeamWill as well as supportive phrases for either performer.
The pro-Smith states were Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and New Hampshire. Of the states tweeting support for Smith, Mississippi was the place with the highest percentage of his defenders at 75.4 percent.
Maine rallied the most around Rock, with a whopping 98.2 percent of tweets tallied from the state cheering on the comic.
Smith issued an apology for his "unacceptable and inexcusable" behavior on Monday evening.