WILL Smith finally broke the silence on The Slap, when he released a six-minute video on the matter on his YouTube page and social media channels on Friday. In clear terms, he said he is “deeply remorseful” for slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards ceremony earlier this year.
In the video – titled ‘It’s been a minute…” – Smith answers a series of questions on the slap itself and the controversies surrounding it. Before he speaks, a brief message says the actor has “been doing a lot of thinking and personal work” over the past few months.
Smith explains why he didn’t apologise to Rock during his acceptance speech, which happened towards the end of the ceremony, not that long after their altercation. He admits to being “fogged out by that point” and that “it’s all fuzzy.”
He has reached out to Rock since, and the comedian has said he would reach out when he is ready to talk about it.
“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,” said Smith, who won the Oscar for Best Actor in the inspirational sports film King Richard. This would have been the crowning moment of his career had it not been overshadowed by the slap.
“So I will say to you, Chris, I apologise to you,” Smith said. “My behaviour was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
“I want to apologise to Chris’s mother. I saw an interview that Chris’s mother did, and that was one of the things I just didn’t realise. You know, I wasn’t thinking, but how many people got hurt in that moment,” he said.
“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,” the actor added. “There’s no part of me that thinks that is the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insult.”
Smith also denied rumours that he slapped Rock at the urging of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, saying that he “made a choice on my own” and that she “had nothing to do with it.”
Rock had joked about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, suggesting she would appear in G.I. Jane 2. Pinkett Smith had previously been vocal about her alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss.
“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.” – The Vibes, July 30, 2022
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