Entertainment
Will Smith addresses Jada Pinkett Smith claims, apologises to family over Chris Rock Oscars slap ordeal: ‘I made a choice on my own’-Rishma Dosani-Entertainment – Metro
Will spoke out in a new video.
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Will Smith hit back at speculation that Jada Pinkett Smith was behind his decision to slap Chris Rock at this year’s Oscars.
The King Richard actor issued a lengthy apology regarding the incident earlier today, explaining that his actions were unacceptable.
The 53-year-old left the world reeling when he stormed on stage at the star-studded ceremony in March, following a joke the comedian made about his wife’s hair, in which he compared her buzzcut to GI Jane.
Jada has been open about her struggles with alopecia and appeared unimpressed at the quip, rolling her eyes in front of the camera.
Moments later, Will confronted the Everybody Hates Chris actor and hit him, warning him to ‘keep her name out of his mouth’.
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air lead – who was later banned from the Oscars for a decade – has now issued a lengthy apology in a new YouTube video, and took a moment to clear up rumors about what happened.
Will Smith cleared up rumors about Jada Pinkett Smith in his apology video (Picture: YouTube)
Will took home his first Oscar on the explosive night (Picture: FilmMagic)
In the clip, he addressed the question: ‘After Jada rolled her eyes, did she tell you to do something?,’ and said that this could not be further from the truth.
‘No. I made a choice on my own, from my own experiences, from my history with Chris,’ he 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.
Jada Pinkett Smith was visibly unimpressed with Chris Rock’s quip (Picture: AP)
Will stormed on stage and slapped Will Smith over the comments (Picture: AFP)
‘To all my fellow nominees. This is a community, I won because you voted for me. It really breaks my heart to have stolen and tarnished your moment.
‘I can still see Questlove’s eyes. It happened on Questlove’s award. I’m sorry really isn’t sufficient.’
Will also apologized directly to Chris, revealing that he had reached out to his fellow actor but had not yet received a positive response.
Will Smith’s full apology to Chris Rock after Oscars slap
Why didn’t you apologize to Chris in your acceptance speech?
‘I was fogged out by that point. It’s all fuzzy. I have reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he is 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 am here whenever you’re ready to talk.
‘I wanna apologize to Chris’ mother. I saw an interview Chris’ mother did and that was one of the things about that moment I just didn’t realize, I wasn’t thinking about how many people got hurt in that moment, so I want to apologize to Chris’ mother.
‘I want to apologize to Chris’ family, specifically Tony Rock. We had a great relationship, Tony Rock was my man, and this is probably irreparable.
‘I spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuances and the complexities of what happened in that moment, and 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 feelings of disrespect or insults.’
After Jada rolled her eyes, did she tell you to do something?
‘No. I made a choice on 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, I won because you voted for me. It really breaks my heart to have stolen and tarnished your moment. I can still see Questlove’s eyes. It happened on Questlove’s award.
‘I’m sorry really isn’t sufficient.’
What would you say to the people who looked up to you before the slap or people who expressed that you let them down?
‘There’s two things. One – Disappointing people is my central trauma. I hate when I let people down. So 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’m 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.
‘If you hang on, I promise we’ll be able to be friends again.’
Reflecting on why he didn’t say sorry directly in his Oscar winning speech, which came shortly after the incident, he continued: ‘I was fogged out by that point. It’s all fuzzy.
‘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’ll reach out.
‘I will say to you Chris, I apologize to you, my behavior was unacceptable, and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.’
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Will then directed his comments to Chris’ family, stating that he wasn’t initially thinking about who else got hurt in that moment.
‘I spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuances and, the complexities of what happened in that moment,’ he added. ‘And 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.’
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