Not much will remain of the 94th Oscars. But the slap Will Smith gave his colleague Chris Rock on the open stage for a rude joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith will probably be talked about for years to come.
After the Academy took up the incident with sharp criticism and has since launched an investigation that could lead to Will Smith’s Oscar being revoked, the actor has now sought an apology.
He made a statement on Instagram. It states: “Violence in all its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at the Oscars last night was unacceptable and inexcusable.
Chris Rock will not (for the time being) file a complaint
On the Oscar evening, he had already reacted to his action in his acceptance speech with tears and implied words of regret, which was also visibly in the bones of the Hollywood audience. However, he did not address words to Chris Rock. At least Smith made up for that, possibly with the knowledge that the comedian had (initially) refrained from reporting.
“Jokes at my expense are part of the job, but joking about Jada’s health was too much for me and I reacted emotionally,” the King Richard star explained in the post. “I want to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was off track and I was wrong.”
Check out this post on Instagram
The 53-year-old clearly stated that he was embarrassed. His actions didn’t reflect the man he wants to be. “In a world of love and kindness there is no room for violence.”
Smith also apologized again to the Academy, the show’s producers and many more. At the end of his Instagram post, he promised to work on himself a lot.
Chris Rock had sparked Will Smith’s sharp reaction with a joke about Jada Pinkett’s hair. She must be preparing for the sequel to The Jane Files, Rock quipped, unaware that Will Smith’s wife has an autoimmune disease that is causing her hair to fall out. Ridley Scott’s Navy film starred Demi Moore with her hair shaved off.