Will Smith, an Oscar-winning actor, has apologized to comedian Chris Rock directly and expressed his “deep remorse” for his actions.
Remember the actor made waves when, during the 2022 Oscars ceremony, he smacked Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head, not realizing that she has alopecia, a medical condition.
Will Smith later won the ‘Best Actor’ Award that evening for his performance in the movie, ‘King Richard’ despite the slapping incident, and did not apologize to Chris Rock in his acceptance speech.
On Friday, July 29, the actor posted a video in which he responded to questions regarding the incident at the award.
After explaining why he didn’t apologize during his victory speech for Best Actor, Will then apologizes to Rock.
Will said, “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. So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behaviour was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
He also apologized to Rose Rock and Tony Rock, Rock’s mother and brother, for his actions.
“I just didn’t realize how many people got hurt in that moment, so I want to apologize to Chris’s mother. I want to apologize,” he said.
Smith claimed that he is solely responsible for what happened and that his wife Jada did not give him any instructions to slap Rock.
“I spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuances and the complexities of what happened in that moment. I’m not going to try to unpack all of that right now but I can say to all of you, there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment.
“There is no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults,” he said.
See the video below…
