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Will Smith has opened up about the “horrific night” of his now infamous Oscars slap incident on his first late-night US talk show appearance since the incident, saying his “bottled” rage led him to slap Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars in March.
While promoting his forthcoming film “Emancipation,” Smith, who has been interviewed for the first time since the incident, described as “a horrific night”.
“And I guess what I would say, you just never know what somebody is going through,” Smith said on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. “I was going through something that night. Not that that justifies my behavior at all.”
“I understand how shocking that was for people,” he said. “I was gone. That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time.”
He said he also understood the pain he had caused and recalled the reaction of his nine-year-old nephew that night.
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At the 94th Academy Awards in March, Smith took to the stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock across the face, in response to a joke Rock made about Smith’s wife’s shaven head. It is not known if Rock knew Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia.
Smith’s violent act became the focal point of the ceremony, but that night was also a highlight of his career, as the actor took home his first Oscar — best actor — for playing Richard Williams, father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, in “King Richard.”
Addressing the studio audience, he continued: “In the audience right now, you’re sitting next to strangers, and somebody’s mother died last week. You know? Somebody’s child is sick. Somebody just lost their job. Somebody just found out their spouse cheated.
“There’s all these things, and you just don’t know what’s going on with people. And I was going through something that night.”
“And I had to humble down and realize that I’m a flawed human, and I still have an opportunity to go out in the world and contribute in a way that fills my heart and hopefully helps other people.”
In the aftermath of the Oscars, he has “had to forgive myself for being human”, he said.
