Last Friday, July 29, Will Smith broke his silence about the 2022 Oscars incident in which the Oscar-winning actor for ‘The Williams Method’ slapped Chris Rock live after he made a joke about bad taste about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
In the video, posted on his YouTube channel, Smith apologizes to Chris Rock and everyone he may have hurt after what happened four months ago on stage at the Dolby Theater and extends a (peaceful) hand to Rock: “Chris, I apologize. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you want to talk.”. The actor also revealed that Rock “not ready to talk” and that, when he is, he will contact him to fix things. “I promise we can be friends again”Smith concludes in the video.
Hours after the release of the video-apology, Rock took the stage at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, where he continued his monologue tour as before. Although he did not directly allude to the apology, he did take a hint regarding the newly released video: “Everyone is trying to be a f**king victim. If everyone claims to be a victim, then no one will listen to the real victims.”. Then the comedian called “Suge Smith” to the actor of ‘The Prince of Bel-Air’, a nickname that, according to ET refers to Marion ‘Suge’ Knight, head of the record label Death Row Records known for his tough character, who produced artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg or Tupac and was jailed in the 90s.
“Even when Suge Smith smacked me… I went to work the next day, I have kids.”Rock continued during his monologue. “Anyone who says words hurt is because they’ve never been punched in the face”, sentenced. This is not the first time that Rock has made reference to what happened on his tour, called the Ego Death World Tour. Recently, the presenter of the Oscars said something similar during his show: “I’m not a victim. Yeah, that shit hurt, motherfucker. But I got that shit out of the way and went to work the next day. I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut.”.
“Disappointing people is my biggest trauma”
Among other things, Smith responds during the video to a question that many asked themselves when analyzing the Slapgate video from various sources: Did Jada tell you to do something? Smith relieves his wife of all responsibility by taking the blame entirely: “No, I made the decision. (…) Jada had nothing to do with it. I’m sorry, honey”.
Finally, the interpreter of ‘Independence Day’ apologized to all those who have disappointed with their behavior: “Disappointing people is my biggest trauma. It hurts me psychologically and emotionally to know that I did not live up to the image and impression that people have of me.“.
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