Will Smith addressed the backlash from the well-known incident four months after hitting comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars in a new video that was published on Friday.
Following the slap, Smith received the lead actor Oscar for his performance in “King Richard.” After being questioned about why he didn’t express regret to Rock in his acceptance speech, he responded, “I was fogged out by that point. It’s all fuzzy.”
“I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk. And when he is, he will reach out,” Smith said. “So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable. And I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
Smith had previously expressed apologies for his behaviour on Oscar night.
Smith posted a statement on Instagram a few days after the incident, calling the violence “poisonous and destructive” and declaring his actions “unacceptable and inexcusable.” “A joke about Jada’s health was too much for me to take,” he continued.
I want to formally apologize to you, Chris. Smith wrote in March, “I was out of line and I was wrong. “I feel ashamed because what I did does not reflect the kind of man I aspire to be. In a society that values compassion and love, violence has no place.
Smith also expressed his regret to Rock’s family in the video released on Friday, particularly to his mother and brother Tony Rock. Smith noted that although he and Tony Rock had a “great relationship,” their friendship might be “irreparable.”
Will Smith that his reaction to Rock’s hair-related joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith was not the “best approach to manage a feeling of disrespect or insults.”
After Pinkett Smith rolled her eyes at the “G.I. Jane” joke, Smith claimed that she had told him how to respond to Rock. Pinkett-Smith keeps her hair short because she suffers alopecia, which results in hair loss.
Smith said, “I made a decision on my own, based on my own experiences from my history with Chris. “Sorry darling, Jada had nothing to do with it. I would like to apologize to my family and children. For the heat, I put all of us under.
After a time of complete silence over the matter, Pinkett Smith spoke candidly about her feelings in a June episode of her Facebook Watch series “Red Table Talk.”
Regarding Oscar night, she expressed last month, “My deepest desire is that these two brilliant, talented guys have the chance to heal, speak things out, and reunite.” We need them both, and we actually need one another more than ever given the status of the world now.
Smith’s attendance at the Oscars ceremony and all other Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences events was prohibited for the following 10 years as a result of the incident, which also caused him to resign from the organization.
Smith’s most intense expression of guilt was when he talked about letting people down. People disappointing me is my primary trauma. I detest disappointing people. Therefore, it hurts,” he said. “It psychologically and emotionally bothers me to know that I didn’t live up to people’s expectations of me.”
I am deeply sorry for what I did, and I’m working on feeling sorry for myself without feeling ashamed of it. To those people, I would therefore remark, “I know it was confusing.” I am aware of the shock. But I can assure you that I am utterly devoted to spreading love, joy, and light throughout the world.
Just a few days after Rock addressed the incident in full during his stand-up performance at a show in New Jersey on Sunday, Smith’s video was released.
Chris Rock cracked a joke, “Anyone who thinks words hurt has never been hit in the face.” I’m not the victim. Yes, that hurt, but I moved through it and went to work the following day. I don’t go to the hospital for a papercut.”
Published by HOLR Magazine.