Will Smith talked about how the Oscars slap incident affected his private life in a new interaction. Promoting his upcoming historical drama Emancipation, Will appeared on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah. Talking about his film, Will called the Oscars 2022 a ‘horrific night’ after being asked about it. Also read: Will Smith feels his Oscar slap controversy may hurt his new film Emancipation
At the 94th Academy Awards, Will Smith assaulted comedian Chris Rock who was hosting the show on stage. Chris joked about Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith who suffers from alopecia. After the incident, Will, who had won Best Actor that night, was banned by the Academy. Will maintained a low profile until recent months when he addressed the issue multiple times through social media posts.
Talking about his absence since the fallout with Chris Rock, Will Smith said on the show, “I have been away.” He went on to recall the infamous night and said, “That was a horrific night, as you can imagine. There’s many nuances and complexities to it. But at the end of the day, I just — I lost it, you know? I was going through something that night, you know? Not that that justifies my behavior at all… It was a lot of things. It was the little boy that watched his father beat up his mother, you know? All of that just bubbled up in that moment. That is not who I want to be.”
The King Richard actor shared an anecdote about the effect of the Oscars night and how his action affected his personal life. “I was gone. That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time. My nephew is nine. He is the sweetest little boy. We came home. He had stayed up late to see his uncle Will and we are sitting in my kitchen and he is on my lap and he is holding the Oscar and he is just like, ‘Why did you hit that man, Uncle Will?’ Damn it. Why are you trying to Oprah me?” Smith said.
{{/usCountry}}The King Richard actor shared an anecdote about the effect of the Oscars night and how his action affected his personal life. “I was gone. That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time. My nephew is nine. He is the sweetest little boy. We came home. He had stayed up late to see his uncle Will and we are sitting in my kitchen and he is on my lap and he is holding the Oscar and he is just like, ‘Why did you hit that man, Uncle Will?’ Damn it. Why are you trying to Oprah me?” Smith said.
{{/usCountry}}Will Smith always maintained that he tried reaching out to Chris after his outburst, however, he said that the comedian didn’t respond. Now that the actor is gearing up for his first release since the incident, he recently said that he is unsure if the audience will accept him now.
Will’s new film Emancipation is based on the real life story of a slave named Gordon, known in popular culture as Whipped Peter. The film was originally scheduled to release in May but later was postponed owing to the Oscars controversy.