Will Smith expresses regret for hitting Chris Rock: 'My behavior was unacceptable'

Will Smith expresses regret for hitting Chris Rock

Will Smith has posted a video on YouTube in which he apologizes to Chris Rock. The actor hit the comedian during the oscars ceremony, after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife.

Smith explains that he deliberately kept media silence after the incident on March 27. Oscar host Rock then made a joke about G.I. Jane, a film in which Demi Moore plays the title role with her hair.

He was referring to the hairstyle of Jada Pinkett Smith, a consequence of alopecia, a condition that makes someone partially or completely bald. Her husband reacted furiously. After slapping Rock live in the broadcast, the actor said, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.”

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Smith decided to record a video in which he answers the most frequently asked questions about the incident.

The actor begins with the question he has received most often: why he did not apologize during his acceptance speech, which followed after Smith received the Oscar for best actor.

In his acceptance speech, the actor did say sorry, but this was addressed to the Academy (the organization of the Oscars). Rock was not mentioned. “I was completely confused then,” Smith explains now.

The actor has since contacted Rock. “But he says he’s not ready for that yet. He’ll let you know if he is. So, hereby: Chris, I apologize,” Smith continues. “My behavior was unacceptable and I’m there for you when you’re ready to talk.” The American also apologizes to Rock’s family. “I didn’t think at the time about how many people I would hurt with this action.”

Will Smith expresses regret for hitting Chris Rock: 'My behavior was unacceptable' 4

Smith was not spurred on by his wife.

Smith says he has “replayed everything in his head for the past three months”. “I wanted to understand the nuances and the complexity of what exactly happened.

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I’m not going to unravel that now, but I can say: nothing in me thinks that my behavior was the right choice. Nothing in me thinks you should react to a joke in such a way.”

He explains that he was not urged by his wife to hit Rock, something many people suspected because she rolled her eyes after the joke. “That was my own choice,” says the actor. He also apologizes to her, his children, his fans and the other Oscar nominees. “Disappointing people is a deep-seated trauma of mine. I hate to disappoint people.”

A few days after the incident, Smith announced that he was retiring from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. As a result, he can no longer vote for the Oscars and is no longer allowed to attend the event for the next ten years. However, Smith can be nominated for the film prize.