The 53-year-old actor caused controversy at this year’s ceremony after he slapped Chris Rock on stage following a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and her looks. Smith posted a statement on Instagram to apologize but has since gone silent. The nearly six-minute video, uploaded to his YouTube channel and Instagram page, shows Smith answering questions that have been circulating ever since, starting with why he didn’t apologize to Rock in his acceptance speech. “It’s all a blur,” Smith said. “I reached out to Chris and the message he got back is that he’s not ready to talk and when he is, he’s going to reach out, so I’m going to tell you Chris, I’m sorry. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.” He then takes the opportunity to apologize to Rock’s mother. “One of the things about that moment, I just didn’t realize, I wasn’t thinking, but how many people were hurt at that moment,” he said. He then said the damage to his friendship with Rock’s brother Tony is “probably irreparable”. He goes on to say that he’s spent the last three months “revisiting and understanding the nuances and complexities of what happened at that moment,” and while he says he won’t unpack all of that now, he says there’s no part of him that believes he was “the right way to behave”. Smith also set the record straight on whether Jada had any involvement in suggesting he do anything. “It’s like, you know, I made a choice on my own from my own experiences, from my history with Chris,” she said. “Jada had nothing to do with it.” He then apologized to both her and his family for the “heat” he brought on them all. “It really breaks my heart that I stole and tarnished your moment,” she then tells the other nominees and winners that night. “I’m sorry it’s really not enough.” When asked what he would say to those who had previously looked up to him but felt put off by his behaviour, he said his central trauma is “letting people down”. “I hate letting people down,” he said. “So it hurts. It hurts me psychologically and emotionally to know that I didn’t live up to people’s image and impression of me. The work I’m trying to do is that I’m deeply repentant and I’m trying to repent without being ashamed of myself. I am human. I made a mistake and I’m trying not to think of myself as a piece of shit.” The video comes after Rock also addressed the incident at a live comedy event in New York last week. “Anyone who says ‘words hurt’ has never been punched in the face,” he said. Rock also emphasized that he is “not a victim” and said he would not “go to the hospital for a paper cut.” After the slap, Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was banned for 10 years for “unacceptable and harmful conduct”. Smith’s next film, the slavery thriller Emancipation, is reportedly receiving enthusiastic test screenings and is considered a potential awards contender for Apple TV+.
