(CNN) –– Will Smith is “deeply sorry” for slapping Chris Rock during the Oscar Awards ceremony in March. The actor posted a video this Friday on his verified Instagram account, in which he talks regarding the incident.
“It’s been a while… In the last few months, I’ve been thinking a lot and working a lot,” reads the on-screen text that begins the video. “You’ve asked a lot of fair questions that I wanted to take some time to answer.”
Then, Smith can be heard sighing. He then comes on screen and addresses the camera to explain why he didn’t apologize to Rock during his acceptance speech for winning the best actor award for his role in the movie. King Richard.
“I was confused at the time. Everything was a blur. I contacted Chris and the message I received is that he is not ready to talk. When he is, he will contact me. I want to tell you, Chris, that I apologize. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here when you’re ready to talk,” says Smith.
CNN has reached out to Rock’s representatives for comment.
“We had a great relationship”
Smith also apologized to Rock’s mother, family and brother, Tony Rock, who starred in the 2007 sitcom All of Uswhich was created by Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett.
“I didn’t think regarding how many people I hurt at the time,” he added. “We had a great relationship,” Smith said of Rock’s brother. “Tony Rock was someone close and this is probably irreparable.”
Smith also answered the question if his wife, following rolling her eyes at Rock’s joke, had asked him to do something. Her response was that she didn’t ask for it.
He also apologized to her, her children and her fellow Academy Award nominees.
Smith said that he “spent the last three months rehearsing and understanding the nuances and complexity of what happened at the time.”
“I’m not going to try to download all of that right now. But I can tell all of you, there’s not a part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave at the time,” he said. “No part of me thinks that’s the best way to handle disrespect or insult.”
Smith added that it hurts him to know that he didn’t live up to the image that people had of him. “Disappointing people is my main trauma,” he said. “I hate when I let people down, so it hurts.”
Smith then sends a message to his followers, saying that he is committed “to bringing light, love and joy to the world.” “If you’re still there, I promise we can be friends once more,” he concluded.
The followingmath of the Smith slap
Smith’s slap in the face of Rock in the middle of the Academy Awards ceremony on March 27 unleashed an earthquake in Hollywood that lasted for several months. The actor slammed the comedian and event host following the latter made a joke regarding the shaved head of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia.
Smith publicly apologized to Rock the day following the incident via social media. She also approached the show’s producer, Will Packer, the next morning, apologized and expressed embarrassment on him, the producer told “Good Morning America.”
As a result of the slap, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided that Smith will not be able to attend the Oscar Awards for the next ten years. “The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years beginning April 8, 2022, that Mr. Smith will not be able to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards. of the Academy,” read a statement obtained by CNN.
