Hollywood Actor, Will Smith, has opened up about the infamous Oscars slap with Trevor Noah on the Daily Show.
READ MORE: The world reacts to the moment Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the Oscars
Eight months ago, Smith marched onto the Oscars stage and slapped Chris Rock across the face. The comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Rock referred to her as G.I Jane in an attempted to poke fun at her new haircut, which comes after her struggles with alopecia.
Smith has apologised for the incident, but had yet to sit down for a major interview about the slap. “That was a horrific night, as you can imagine. There’s many nuances and complexities to it, but at the end of the day, I just — I lost it. I guess what I would say, you just never know what somebody’s going through,” Smith told Noah.
Smith is also awaiting the release of his new film, Emancipation. This would be the first movie Smith releases since he slapped Rock in March. In an interview with FOX 5 DC’s Kevin McCarthy, Smith said he would “completely understand” if fans were not “ready” to see his new film.
Even though Smith resigned from the Academy for his actions, and was banned from the Oscars for a decade, he could still potentially be nominated for an Oscar for his role in the film.
“Emancipation” star Will Smith discusses the film’s story and the image that set it into motion. pic.twitter.com/tV3XHU3smo
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) November 29, 2022
“I was going through something that night. And not that that justifies my behavior at all. You’re asking what did I learn and it’s that we just got to be nice to each other, man. It’s hard. And I guess the thing that was most painful for me is that I took my hard and made it hard for other people,” Smith told Noah and the audience on the Daily Show.
Noah reassured that even with the controversy following Smith, the incident seemed to be a response to years of hidden happenings in the actor’s life.
Smith agreed, saying that the situation taught him one thing: “I had to forgive myself for being human.”
