It’s been a minute (and four months or so) since Will Smith struck comedian Chris Rock during this year’s Academy Award ceremony, but the King Richard star and now Oscar winner has, at last, sat down and issued an apology for the incident. It has been expected for some time that Will Smith would address the situation again and offer his apologies, and while many thought the actor would choose a high-profile platform such as a talk show to do so, he has instead decided to simply sit down and make a YouTube video. You can watch the apology courtesy of Will Smith’s official YouTube channel below.
The video is framed by Smith answering questions from fans, one of which asks why he did not apologize to Chris Rock during his Best Actor Oscar acceptance speech.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Smith continued, again offering his sincere apologies to both Chris Rock and Chris Rock’s mother, Rosalie, as well as Chris Rock’s younger brother, Tony.
“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.”
The Slap Heard Around the World
The incident, which came to be known as “the slap heard around the world,” occurred after Chris Rock made a joke at Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett-Smith’s expense. Referring to the actress’ alopecia, Smith took to the stage for what many assumed would be a funny moment. Instead, Smith struck Chris Rock across the face before returning to his seat and yelling at the comedian from the audience. Smith has since resigned from the Academy.
“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.”
Smith has already apologized to Chris Rock in the form of an Instagram post, but no doubt seeing the actor offer his regrets over what he did will make more of an impression. Rock has recently spoken of the infamous slap saying, “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face… I’m not a victim. Yeah, that shit hurt, motherf**er. But I shook that shit off and went to work the next day. I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut.”
Despite all this, Will Smith has several projects on the horizon, including Emancipation with director Antoine Fuqua, and a sequel to Bad Boys for Life. Chris Rock, meanwhile, will next star in Amsterdam alongside Christian Bale and Margot Robbie.
