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Finally some answers to the slaps heard around the world.
On Friday morning, Will Smith released a video answering questions about Chris Rock’s slap at the Academy Awards. The incident tarnished Smith’s Hollywood Golden Boy image (perhaps forever), led to his decade-long ban from the Academy, and sparked a serious conversation about what role, if any, violence plays in public displays of anger.
“Letting people down is my main trauma,” Smith said, facing the camera. “I hate it when I let people down. It hurts.”
In the nearly six-minute YouTube video, Smith answers common questions he’s received since the accident. Did his wife Jada Pinkett Smith tell him to do it? No. Why didn’t he apologize to Rock during his acceptance speech just moments later? It was a “blur”.
It was a standing ovation for Will Smith at the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty
During the Oscars, Rock took the stage to present the winner of the documentary category, but he started with a joke. Pointing to Jada Pinkett Smith’s closely cropped head, which may be the result of her struggles with alopecia, he said: “Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, I can’t wait to see it.” Smith then took the stage, punched Rock in the face before returning to his seat where he repeatedly yelled: ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.’
Smith apologized on social media shortly after the event, but Rock has largely remained silent, though he briefly touched on the issue during a stand-up set in March: “I had a whole show that I wrote before the weekend,” he said, according to a Washington Post reporter in the audience. “And I’m still processing what happened. I will talk about that in a moment.” (A Rock representative could not immediately be reached for comment.)
Jada Pinkett Smith Addresses Oscar Slap and Alopecia on ‘Red Table Talk’
The video was a chain of apologies — to Rock, to Pinkett Smith, to his family, to the Academy, to Questlove, to his fans, even to Rock’s mother, who said during an interview with an NBC affiliate that “when [Smith] hit Chris, he hit us all. He really hit me.
There were several moments when Smith appeared to hold back tears, including when he recalled the look in the eyes of Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, who was awarded the trophy for best documentary for “Summer of Soul (… Or, When the Revolution cannot be televised)” shortly after the incident. It was Thompson’s first Academy Award.
Smith paused to consider his words, “Sorry, not really enough.”
To his fans who were disappointed by his actions, he said: “I know it was confusing. I know it was shocking. But I promise you that I am deeply committed and dedicated to putting light, love and joy into the world. And, you know, if you stick it out, I promise we can be friends again.
Smith also said he’s committed to working on himself — he’s trying to be “remorseful without shame. right I’m human And I made a mistake and I try not to think of myself as dirt—.”
But according to Smith, Rock isn’t ready for a face-to-face apology just yet.
“I contacted Chris and the message that came back is that he is not ready to talk and when he is, he will be in touch,” Smith said. “So I’ll tell you, Chris, I apologize. My behavior was unacceptable and I am here when you are ready to speak.
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