Will Smith posted another hand-wringing apology video on Friday, apologizing formally for his infamous slap on Chris Rock during the Oscars, saying his “behavior was unacceptable.” In the apology, Smith revealed that Rock, his former friend, still hasn’t forgiven him for slapping him on stage at the Oscars.
In the video, Smith said he’d taken the last three months to ‘work’ on himself. He has since realized how many people he hurt when he smacked Rock on stage at the awards.
Smith issued his first apology to Rock back in March. He posted a statement on Instagram where he said ‘violence in all its forms’ was wrong.
Smith said he reached out to Rock, but the comedian was “not ready to talk” and will reach out once he is.
“So I will say to you, ‘Chris, I apologize to you,'” Smith said. “My behavior was unacceptable, and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.'”
He also apologized to Rock’s mother and his entire family, specifically singling out his mother and younger brother Tony Rock.
‘I just didn’t realize how many people got hurt in that moment, so I want to apologize to Chris’s mother. I want to apologize.
‘I want to apologize to Tony Rock… Tony Rock was my man, and this is probably irreparable,’ he said.
He also apologized to Jada Pinkett Smith, his wife whose honor he claimed to be defending with the outburst, and said she had ‘nothing to do with it.’
‘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.’
‘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.
Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, had recently revealed that she was suffering from alopecia and had shaved her head.
Before announcing the award for best documentary, Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair, saying, “Jada, I love you –’ G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it, all right?” The 1997 film ‘G.I. Jane’ featured actress Demi Moore with a buzz-cut hairstyle, similar to that of Jada.
She had recently revealed that she suffers from alopecia.
Smith stormed the stage and slapped Rock after fuming: ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your f*****g mouth.’
He went on to win Best Actor for his role in King Richard that night, but he did not specifically apologize to Rock.
Insisting that his wife had nothing to do with the slap, he went on: ‘I made a choice of my own from my own experiences from my history with Chris.
‘Jada had nothing to do with it. I’m sorry, babe.
‘I want to say sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I brought on all of us.
‘To all my fellow nominees, this is a community.
‘It’s like, I won because you voted for me, and it breaks my heart to have stolen and tarnished your moment.’
Smith went on to claim that ‘disappointing people is his ‘central trauma.’
‘I can still see Questlove’s eyes. You know it happened on Questlove’s award. You know, it’s like.
‘I’m sorry, really isn’t sufficient.
‘Disappointing people is my central trauma. I hate when I let people down, so it hurts.
‘It hurts me psychologically and emotionally to know I didn’t live up to people’s image and impression of me, and the work I am trying to do is I am deeply remorseful.
‘And I’m trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself. I’m human, and I made a mistake, and I’m trying not to think of myself as a piece of s**t.
‘I would say to those people, I know it was confusing, I know it was shocking, but I promise you I am deeply devoted and committed to putting light and love and joy into the world.
‘And, you know, if you hang on, I promise we’ll be able to be friends again.’
Watch the apology:
Smith said he reached out to Rock, but the comedian was “not ready to talk” and will reach out once he is.
100 Percent Fed Up reported in March when Chris Rock broke his silence about his processing of being slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars.
From the Daily Mail:
‘Let me be all misty and s***,’ he said, with tears in his eyes.
‘I don’t have a bunch of s*** to say about that, so if you came here for that…’ he said, and paused.
‘I had written a whole show before this weekend.
‘I’m still processing what happened, so at some point I’ll talk about that s***. It’ll be serious. It’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes.’
Rock skirted the subject again in his second set but seemingly confirmed that he has not spoken with Smith since being smacked in the jaw on live television.
‘I haven’t talked to anyone, despite what you heard,’ Rock said.
The infamous slap, which took place at the 2022 Oscar’s after Chris Rock made a joke about Will Smith’s wife’s bald head, not only caused Will Smith to be banned from future events but has also harmed public perception of the actor–lowering his approval rating in the public eye from 80% to 50% according to a Morning Consult Poll.
The clips of the incident indeed amassed a more significant viewership than the awards show itself.
Watch the uncensored footage of the infamous slap:
Will Smith’s cuckold rage moment at the Oscars in its full, unedited and uncensored glory. pic.twitter.com/0y5ljWe8bY
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 28, 2022
Smith slapping Rock was the standout, shock moment from the show and overshadowed everything else.
What used to be the year’s event, attracting 30-55 million viewers, had suffered a significant drop in viewership, with only 15.4 million tuning in to watch the 94th edition of the Oscars.
However, these numbers increased from last year’s 9.8 million viewers. Before this, no Oscars Award Show had ever seen its viewership drop below 20 million.
The only part of the live event that got the internet buzzing was Will Smith’s physical assault on comedian Chris Rock for making a lighthearted joke about his wife.
Is it any wonder the ratings continue to get lower and lower? Amy Schumer made lousy joke after bad joke. Not only did Schumer make an uncomfortable joke about highly-awarded actress Kirsten Dunst being a “seat filler,” but she also decided to chant “gay gay gay gay gay” in an obnoxious attempt to ‘bash’ Florida political leaders.
Oscars: How can we collapse our ratings lower and get even more people to hate us?
Amy Schumer:
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 28, 2022
The Academy announced in April that Smith would be banned for ten years from any of their events after slapping Rock. Smith resigned from the Academy and apologized.
This decision came a mere week after Smith decided to resign in shame from the Academy.
