UPDATED with additional details: In a just posted video that is 5 minutes, 44 seconds long, Will Smith has broken his silence about the regrettable “slap heard around the world,” in which he struck Oscar presenter Chris Rock after he made fun of Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. This before Smith was awarded Best Actor Oscar honors.
The apology was expected, and Smith has done it in the form of answering questions that were raised on the internet. While there was expectation Smith might choose a high profile TV interview for his apology with Oprah Winfrey on a late-night talk show, he instead chose to sit and calmly answer questions on social media.
The first was directed to Rock, the standup comic who made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s close cropped hair, perhaps not knowing she suffers from alopecia. Answering the question of why he didn’t apologize to Rock in his acceptance speech, Smith said:
“I was fogged out by that point. It is all fuzzy. I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that, he’s not ready to talk. When he is, he will reach out. I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I am here whenever you are ready to talk. I want to apologize to Chris’s mother. I saw an interview [she] did, and that was one of the things I just didn’t realize. I wasn’t thinking, but how many people got hurt in that moment. I want to apologize to Chris’ mother, I want to apologize to Chris’s family, specifically Tony Rock. We had a great relationship. Tony Rock was my man. This is probably irreparable. I spent the last three months replaying an understanding the nuance and complexity 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. No part of me that thinks that is the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insult.”
This comes after Deadline revealed that contrary to published reports, Apple will release Smith’s next star vehicle, the Antoine Fuqua-directed Emancipation, late this year.
Watch the video of Smith’s remarks below.
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