Will Smith has apologized to Chris Rock following the smacking incident at the Oscars on Sunday that shocked the entire world and the entertainment industry.
In an Instagram post on Monday, Smith humbly admitted his behavior at the Academy Awards ceremony was both ‘unacceptable’ and ‘inexcusable’.
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable,” said Smith in the statement.
The ‘I am Legend’ actor went onstage and slapped Chris Rock without warning in the face after the latter cracked joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Rock jokingly compared Pinkett Smith to ‘G.I. Jane’, the eponymous 1997 film starring Demi Moore in which she shaved her head. Smith’s wife suffers from alopecia which resulted in her loss of hair.
“Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally,” the Hollywood superstar added.
Smith then personally apologized to the comedian, before adding that ‘there is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.’
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be,” he said.
He also apologized to the Academy Awards, the attendees, the producers, and to everyone who watched the show, as well as to the Williams family.
Around 40 minutes later into the ceremony, Smith went on to win the ‘Best Actor’ Awards for his role in ‘King Richard’, a film about Richard Williams, tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams’ father.
Acknowledging the early incident, Smith tearfully said, “I know to do what we do, you gotta be able to take abuse and have people talk people about you. In this business, you gotta have people disrespecting you. And you gotta smile and pretend that’s ok.”
Meanwhile, Chris Rock reportedly decided not to file any police report regarding the incident.
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