Disgraced star Will Smith finally broke his silence on what occurred between him and wife Jada Pinkett Smith before Smith walked on stage at the 2022 Oscars and struck Chris Rock in the face.
“It’s been a minute …,” a message reads at the start of the lengthy video posted Friday on YouTube from the the 53-year-old actor. The message continued, “Over the last few months, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and personal work … You asked a lot of fair questions that I wanted to take some time to answer.”
In the clip, the “Men In Black” star issued another apology to Rock, who he hit in the face after the “Grown Ups” star cracked a joke about Jada’s shaved bald head amid her hair loss battle. He then answered the question many have asked, which was “after Jada rolled her eyes did she tell you to do something?”
“No.” Smith explained. “It’s like, you know, I made a choice on my own, from my own experiences, and my history with Chris [Rock]. Jada had nothing to do with it.”
“I’m sorry, babe,” he added. “I want to say sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I brought on all of us.”
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The actor also shared that he has reached out to Rock, and the message has come back that the comedian’s not ready to speak to him yet, as The Daily Wire previously reported.
“I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk and when he is, he will reach out,” the “Bad Boys” star said. “So I will say this to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable. And I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
After Smith slapped Rock in the face during the 94th Academy Awards show, he was not removed from the building, and a short time later, he took the stage to accept his first Oscar ever — Best Actor for his role in the film “King Richard,” as previously reported.
The actor later issued an apology to Rock after the incident, calling it “out of line” and “wrong.” Later, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued a 10-year ban preventing Smith from attending the annual awards show.
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