Actor Will Smith has issued a formal apology to Chris Rock in a recent video message for slapping him at the Academy Awards earlier this year. In the video, Smith was heard mentioning that his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, had "nothing to do" with his decision to hit Rock.
Here is what Will Smith said in the video:
The video starts with the caption, "It's been a minute... Over the last few months, I've been doing a lot of thinking and personal work... You asked a lot of fair questions that I wanted to take some time to answer."
Taking the first question that said, "Why didn't you apologize to Chris in your acceptance speech?", Smith replied, “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 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. I want to apologize to Chris' mother. I saw an interview that 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.
"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's no part of me that thinks that's the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults."
Taking another question that said, "After Jada rolled her eyes did she tell you to do something?", Smith said, “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."
On the Academy Awards night, Smith went up to the stage and slapped Rock in the face responding to the jokes that he made about his wife. Smith was also seen shouting expletives at Rock after he returned to his seat.
After Rock cracked his joke, Smith was initially seen laughing while Pinkett Smith, who was seated next to him, rolled her eyes. Moments later, he charged onto the stage and struck Rock.
