Will Smith finally broke his silence and apologized Friday for slapping comedian Chris Rock during the Academy Awards ceremony in March.
In the nearly six minute long video, Smith answered the many questions fans had over the past three months since the incident.
“It’s been a minute,” the text over Will Smith’s Instagram post read. “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.”
He said he didn’t apologize to comedian Chris Rock during his acceptance speech because he was “fogged out by that point. It’s all fuzzy.”
“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,” Smith said. “So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
“I want to apologize to Chris’s mother,” he continued. “I saw an interview that Chris’s mother did and, you know, that was one of the things about that moment I just didn’t realize and I wasn’t thinking, but how many people got hurt in that moment. So, I want to apologize to Chris’s mother. I want to apologize to Chris’s family. Specifically, Tony Rock.”
Following the ceremony Rock’s brother, Tony, slammed the actor. He reportedly believed the slap stemmed from Smith’s insecurities over his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s friendship with the late-Tupac Shakur.
“You know, we had a great relationship,” Smith said about Rock. “You know, Tony Rock was my man. And this is probably irreparable.”
“I spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuances and the complexities of what happened in that moment and I’m not going to try and unpack all of that right now,” he continued. “But I can say to all of you there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment.”
The 53-year-old debunked claims that his wife told him to “do something” once Rock made the joke about her alopecia.
“I made a choice on my own from my own experiences, from my history with Chris,” he clarified. “Jada had nothing to do with it. I’m sorry, babe.”
The “I Am Legend” star also apologized to his children and the rest of his family.
Shortly after the Oscars, Smith posted a statement to Instagram.
“I was out of line and I was wrong,” he wrote at the time. “I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
The slap resulted in the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” alum to resign from the Academy and to be banned from the Oscars for 10 years.
