It Was Unacceptable How I Behaved

Will Smith has finally apologised for hitting Chris Rock at the Oscars and revealed that the comedian hadn’t yet forgiven him.

The entertainer publicised the video on Instagram where he said he was fogged out during his acceptance speech, and that’s why he didn’t apologise to Chris Rock.

He said that he’d reached out to Chris Rock and the message that came back was that he wasn’t willing to talk, but that when he was he would hopefully reach out to him. 

Will Smith said that he apologises to Chris Rock. That his conduct was inappropriate and that he was there whenever he was ready to talk. He also apologised to Chris Rock’s mother and his entire family.

He said that he just didn’t realise how many people got hurt at that moment, so he wanted to apologise to Chris’s mother.

Will Smith said his wife Jada didn’t instruct him to hit Chris Rock, and that he takes full responsibility for what occurred.

He made the bizarre remark that he decided to slap Chris Rock founded on their history.

He said he spent months replaying and understanding the nuances and complexities of what occurred at that moment.

He said that he wasn’t going to unload all of that right now but that all he could say was there was no part of him that believes that was the right way to act at that moment.

He said there was no part of him that believes that was the optimal way to handle a feeling of incivility or insults.

Chris Rock, who was hosting the show, quipped that Will Smith’s wife Jada looked like GI Jane because of her hairless head.

She’d recently announced that she suffers from alopecia.

Will Smith stormed the stage and slapped Chris Rock after fuming: ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your f*****g mouth.’

He went on to win Best Actor for his part in King Richard that night, but he didn’t specifically apologise to Chris Rock.

Insisting that his wife had nothing to do with the slap, he went on to say that he made a choice of his own from his own experiences from his history with Chris Rock.

He said that Jada had nothing to do with it and he apologised to her and his family for the heat that he brought on all of them, and he said to his fellow nominees that this was a community, but he won because of their voting for him and that it broke his heart to have robbed and spoiled their moment.

I would have watched Will Smith’s oscar-winning performance in King Richard, but I don’t believe that I would have been able to wipe the image of his assaulting Chris Rock for what was likely just an unfortunate joke.

Chris Rock probably didn’t even know about Jada having alopecia, and I’m sure that Chris Rock isn’t an unkind man and would presumably never hurt a friend in such a cruel manner.

I’m sure that Will Smith’s career will recover from this, and Chris Rock will go from strength to strength, showing such dignity and grace in what was a profoundly humiliating experience for him and his family, and the life lesson is that no one is exempt from making mistakes in life.

Will Smith and Chris Rock made one wrong move, and both have let their followers down. Will Smith will no longer be regarded as ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air’. But this is Will Smith and it’s Hollywood – job opportunities certainly haven’t dried up for him.