Smith, who won the Oscar for Best Actor, took the stage in March
Last March, Rock was slapped following making a joke regarding his wife, an incident that overshadowed the major movie night that was being televised around the world.
“I called Chris and he said he wasn’t ready to talk, and when he is, he’ll call me,” Smith said in the six-minute video. “Chris, I apologize,” he added. My behavior was unacceptable. I am ready to talk to you when you are ready to talk regarding it.”
This came following Smith had made a public apology shortly following the incident and was banned from attending the Oscars for the next ten years following the slap.
The 53-year-old also resigned from his membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, although the organization did not revoke his Best Actor award for his role in “King” Richard.
In a video posted on social media on Friday, Smith said that his wife, actress Jayda Pinkett Smith, who was sitting next to him and appeared to frown when Rock joked regarding her, did not say anything to incite him to attack.
“I made a decision on my own,” he explained, apologizing to his wife and their children for “the pressure I’ve caused all of us.”
“I don’t think at all that this is the best way to deal with feelings of disrespect or humiliation,” he added in this video, in which he appeared to be fighting back tears.
He expressed his deep regret that he disappointed his fans, explaining: “I try to feel remorse without being ashamed” of himself, before concluding his speech by saying: “I am a human being and I made a mistake, and I try not to look at myself as an idiot.”