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Four months after slapping Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars, a move that shocked viewers around the world, Will Smith has once again apologized to his fellow actor, saying that his behavior was \u201cunacceptable\u201d and that he reached out to the comedian to discuss the incident but was told Rock wasn\u2019t ready.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment,\u201d Smith said in the under-six minute video posted online Friday. \u201cI am deeply remorseful and I\u2019m trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself.\u201d To Rock, he said: \u201cI\u2019m here whenever you\u2019re ready to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith, seated in a polo shirt and white ball cap, spoke directly to a camera, answering pre-selected questions about his behavior at the March 27 Academy Awards, when he slapped presenter Rock after the comedian made a reference about the hairstyle of Jada Pinkett Smith, Smith\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n
Smith also apologized to Rock\u2019s family and especially his mother, Rosalie, who was horrified to see her son hurt and told US Weekly that, \u201cWhen he slapped Chris, he slapped all of us. He really slapped me.\u201d Smith also apologized to Tony Rock, Chris\u2019 younger brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t realize how many people got hurt in that moment,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
Neither the apology or timing impressed crisis and PR expert Eric Schiffer, who called it \u201cbizarre, strange and grossly over-rehearsed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt came across like he was doing a confessional in some closed room in a foreign country in order to escape the regime,\u201d said Schiffer, chairperson and CEO of Patriarch Equity and chair of Reputation Management Consultants. \u201cIt\u2019s just not the way to get out of the septic muck he put himself into because, once again, it started being about him and it\u2019s still about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the video, Smith also apologized to his family \u201cfor the heat that I brought on all of us\u201d and his fellow Oscar nominees to have \u201cstolen and tarnished your moment.\u201d He mentioned Questlove by name; it was the musician-director\u2019s documentary win for \u201cSummer of Soul (\u2026Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)\u201d that was interrupted by the slap. Rock was on stage to present the documentary award.<\/p>\n
Smith also said his wife did nothing to encourage his slap. \u201cJada had nothing to do with it,\u201d he said. \u201cI made a choice on my own.\u201d Pinkett Smith has said that she has alopecia areata, a hair-loss disorder.<\/p>\n
Following the altercation, the motion picture academy banned Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years. Smith apologized to Rock in a statement after the Oscars, saying he was \u201cout of line and I was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many had speculated that Smith would appear on camera to discuss the slap first on Pinkett Smith\u2019s online series \u201cRed Table Talk,\u201d but he chose to do it in a social media video post without any follow-up questions or surprise queries.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just had the reek of a fabricated attempt to be real. And that\u2019s not what he wanted to accomplish, nor was it persuasive,\u201d said Schiffer. \u201cI do wish him well and hopefully he will find the right path. That path is really about humbleness and not about ego and self.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n