Will Smith recalls ‘horrific night’ of the Oscars slap: ‘I just lost it’

It was the slap heard ‘round the world!

Months after actor Will Smith made headlines for slapping comedian Chris Rock after he made a hurtful joke surrounding his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, while attending the Academy Awards back in March, the I Am Legend actor is getting candid about the viral incident.

Earlier this week, Smith sat down with The Daily Show host Trevor Noah, where he detailed the “horrific night” in which the incident occurred.

 

“There’s many nuances and complexities to it, you know, but at the end of the day, I just lost it,” the Oscar-winning actor explained, adding that “you just never know what somebody’s going through.”

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“You just don’t know what’s going on with people,” Smith continued. “And I was going through something that night. Not that that justifies my behavior at all, but you’re asking what I learned, and it’s that we just got to be nice to each other, man.”

 

The star later elaborated on this point, sharing that there were “a lot of things that just bubbled up” prior to the viral moment.

“That’s not who I want to be,” Will explained. “That was a rage that had been bottled up for a really long time.”

Earlier this month Will, who is currently on a press tour promoting his lately flick, Emancipation, also got real about the professional implications of the incident, sharing that he does “completely understand” if his supporters need a bit more time to come around.

 

“If someone is not ready, I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready,” Will shared during another recent interview.

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“My deepest concern is my team – Antoine has done what I think is the greatest work of his entire career,” he continued, referencing Emancipation director, Antoine Fuqua. The people on this team have done some of the best work of their entire careers, and my deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalize my team. At this point, that’s what I’m working for.”