Will Smith “deeply regrets” Chris Rock’s slap at the Oscars in March.
Smith posted a video to his verified Instagram account on Friday that begins with the words on the screen, “Gone a minute.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and personal work over the past few months…” the statement read. “You asked very fair questions that I wanted to take a moment to answer.”
Smith can then be heard sighing, he goes on screen and addresses the camera about why he didn’t apologize to The Rock during his Oscars acceptance speech after his Best Actor win for his role in King Richard .
“I was in a daze from that moment,” says Smith. “Everything is a blur. 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. So I’ll tell you, Chris, I apologize. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here when you’re ready to talk.”
CNN has reached out to Rock’s representatives for comment.
Smith also apologized to Rock’s mother, family and his brother Tony Rock, who starred in the 2007 sitcom All of Us, created by Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
“We had a great relationship,” Smith says. “Tony Rock was my man and that’s probably irreparable.”
Smith took the stage at the Oscars and slapped Chris Rock, who was presenting at the time, after he joked about Smith’s wife’s shaved head.
Pinkett Smith suffers from hair loss due to alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that can cause hair loss.
In his video, Smith also answers the question of whether his wife, after rolling her eyes at Rock’s joke, asked him to do anything at that point, saying she didn’t.
He also apologized to her, their children and his fellow Oscar nominees in the post.
Smith says he’s “spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuances and complexities of what happened at that moment.”
“I’m not going to try to unpack all of that right now, but I can tell you all that there’s no part of me that thinks that’s the right way to behave at this point,” he says. “There’s no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to deal with feeling disrespected or offended.”
Smith adds that it hurts him to know that he doesn’t live up to the image people have of him.
“Letting people down is my main trauma,” he says. “I hate it when I let people down, so it hurts.”
Smith has a message for his supporters, saying he is committed to “bringing light, love and joy to the world.”
“If you hold on, I promise we can be friends again,” he finishes.
The Academy sanctioned Smith by banning him from attending the Oscars for the next 10 years.
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