Will Smith headlined one of the major events in Hollywood this year when he slapped comedian Chris Rock on the stage of the 94th Academy Awards. The incident gained wide media attention and was subjected to a highly divided audience reception. It led to severe repercussions for the King Richard actor who won the Best Actor Oscar for the movie, moments after the controversial stunt.
Later on, Will Smith spoke about the incident on several occasions as to what led to his unprecedented rage. He has also apologized to Chris Rock repeatedly, but the comedian never responded to the apologies. During his latest interview with Trevor Noah which went viral on the internet some time ago, Smith gives us more insight into the whole incident.
What did Will Smith say to Trevor Noah?
The 94th Academy Awards took the internet by storm when the Aladdin actor stormed up the stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock for a joke that was made at the expense of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The joke was regarding her medical condition which causes baldness, which caused Will Smith to yell at the comedian with slurs and slap him in the middle of the show.
The event caused the whole fanbase to be divided and even led the Academy to ban Smith from any of their future events for a decade. When the 54-year-old actor visited The Daily Show, he revealed several more details to host Trevor Noah. According to the Bad Boys’ fame, it was purely unintentional and a summation of many disturbing things that were going on in his head. It was a result of various traumatizing events that have haunted him since his childhood.
During the interview, Will Smith claimed that all of it was the rage that was bottled up for so many years. He couldn’t clearly explain what happened, but he lost it and presented a version of himself that was shocking to everyone.
“There’s many nuances and complexities to it. But at the end of the day, I just – I lost it, you know. I guess what I would say is that you just never know what somebody’s going through. I was going through something that night, you know? Not that that justifies my behaviour at all. I understand how shocking that was for people … I was gone. That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time.”
He even brought up his traumatizing past about how he had to helplessly witness his father beating his mother in his childhood. Trevor Noah also sided with the Independence Day actor and clarified that Smith is not what the people saw on the night of the Oscars.
Will Smith was humiliated by his nephew due to the controversy
It is no lie that Will Smith’s career was largely affected due to the slap gate controversy. But the actor also had a hard time with his family after his 9-year-old nephew threw him into a state of humiliation.
As many unheard stories came out and Smith got teary-eyed, he added that the sweetest member of his family also questioned him about what led him to take the drastic step.
“My nephew is nine. He is the sweetest little boy. We came home. He had stayed up late to see his uncle Will and we are sitting in my kitchen and he is on my lap and he is holding the Oscar and he is just like, ‘Why did you hit that man, Uncle Will?’ Damn it. Why are you trying to Oprah me?”
It can be understood that people are not going to forget the incident anytime soon. On the other hand, with the lack of any response from Chris Rock, it is debatable to figure out when the two stars can reconcile.
Following the Oscar controversy, the King Richard star came back with Emancipation. He played the role of a slave in that movie. But despite his performance being praised by everyone, the movie gained mixed to negative reviews. Currently, the star is filming a show for National Geographic titled Pole to Pole.
Emancipation can be streamed on Apple TV+.
Source: The Daily Show
