It’s been a minute…
After four months off the radar, Will Smith broke silence on Friday (Jul. 29) to address his infamous Oscars slap and issued a heartfelt apology to fellow actor and comedian Chris Rock.
In the emotional video uploaded on Youtube, the Grammy and Oscar-winning artist and actor explained why he did not issue his apology during his acceptance speech following the incident at the March’s Academy Awards.
“I was fogged out by that point. It’s all fuzzy.” said Will, before revealing he has personally reached out to Chris. “I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk and when he is, he will reach out. So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
In addition, Will apologized to his family and said Jada and her reaction to Chris’ joke, which prompted the slap, had no influence on the incident. “I made a choice on my own, from my own experiences, from my history with Chris,” Will insisted. “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.”
Smith also apologized to Chris Rock’s wife and his family as well as his fellow Oscar nominees including Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, who won Best Documentary just moments after the incident.