American actor Will Smith said his “pent up” anger led him to slap comedian Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars in March.
Smith gave an interview for the first time since the incident, describing that night as “terrible”.
Smith appeared Monday night on an episode of The Daily Show to promote his upcoming film, ‘Emancipation,’ which is due to show next week, making him eligible to participate in next year’s Oscar season.
Smith, who won Best Actor this year after the slap, said the idea that his new film could be harmed during the upcoming awards season by slapping Chris Rock was “killing” him.
“I was going through something that night,” Smith added, but stressed that “it doesn’t justify my behavior at all.”
He said there were “a lot of circumstances and complications. I lost my mind.”
Smith took the stage at the Oscars by storm after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett, suffering from hair loss.
“I understand how shocking that was.”
Smith had previously claimed that his wife had not asked him to face Rock.
“I guess what I’m going to say is you never know what someone is going through,” she said, not elaborating on what she was referring to.
The interview with Smith on the American late night television talk show marked the first time Smith spoke publicly about slapping a rock.
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“I understand how traumatic it was for people… I just lost my mind. It was repressed anger for a long time,” Smith said.
“It was a terrible night, as you can imagine.”
In July, Smith posted a YouTube video answering questions fans seemed to have written about the Oscars. Smith had only previously released written statements about the altercation.
Smith, 54, was banned from attending the Academy Awards for 10 years and resigned from the Academy organizing the ceremony.
And the actor said, in response to a question about what he would say to his critics who believe it’s too early to promote his new film, he said, “I completely understand that some aren’t ready for this.”
“I will fully respect that and understand they are not ready,” he added.
He said: “My deepest concern is my team. The people in this team have done some of the best work of their entire career and I hope you don’t punish my team for what I’ve done.”
