Will Smith breaks silence over Oscar slap, apologises to Chris Rock: ‘I’m right here at any time when you might be prepared to speak’

Hollywood star Will Smith on Friday took to his Instagram deal with to interrupt the silence on his notorious Oscars slap. Smith, who gained the Best Actor Oscar for King Richard, mentioned he’s “deeply remorseful” for slapping presenter Chris Rock after the latter made enjoyable of his spouse Jada Pinkett Smith.

In a video posted on Instagram, Smith answered some questions which were doing the rounds of the web relating to his impending apology. The actor started by answering the query – “Why didn’t you apologize to Chris Rock in the acceptance speech?” In his reply, Smith mentioned that he reached out to Rock, who wasn’t “ready to talk”. The Men in Black star added, “I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I am here whenever you are ready to talk.”

Stand-up comic and host Chris Rock poked enjoyable at Jada Pinkett Smith‘s hair-loss, being unaware that she suffers from alopecia. This infuriated Will Smith who walked as much as the Oscars stage and slapped Rock.

Read Will Smith’s full apology to Chris Rock:

“I was fogged out by that point. It is all fuzzy. I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk. When he is, he will reach out. I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I am here whenever you are ready to talk. I want to apologize to Chris’s mother. I saw an interview [she] did, and that was one of the things I just didn’t realize. I wasn’t thinking, but how many people got hurt in that moment. I want to apologize to Chris’ mother, I want to apologize to Chris’s family, specifically Tony Rock. We had a great relationship. Tony Rock was my man. This is probably irreparable. I spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuance and complexity of what happened in that moment. I’m not going to try to unpack all of that right now, 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. No part of me that thinks that is the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insult.”

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on Oscars 2022 stage. (Photo: Reuters/File)

In one other a part of the apology video, Will Smith added that his spouse Jada Pinkett Smith had nothing to do with the slap. He mentioned, “I made a choice of my own from my own experiences and from my history with Chris.”

Smith additionally talked about how his Oscar win bought “tarnished” due to his personal misdoing. “To all my fellow nominees, this is a community. It’s like, I won because you voted for me and it breaks my heart to have stolen and tarnished your moment,” he mentioned.