Smith has opened up about the events of this year’s Oscars while promoting his new film.
Will Smith has said he “completely” understands if people are not ready to see his first movie to be released following his slapping of Chris Rock at the Oscars earlier this year.
The actor’s new film is titled Emancipation and is a historical action epic set in the 19th century.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), it follows a runaway slave who forges through the swamps of Louisiana on a tortuous journey to escape the plantation owners that nearly killed him.
While interviewed about Emancipation on Fox 5, Smith was asked what he would say to people who are not sure if they are ready yet to watch the movie after what happened at the most recent Oscars.
“I completely understand that, if someone is not ready. I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready,” he responded.
“My deepest concern is my team. Antoine has done what I think is the greatest work of his entire career.
“The people on this team have done some of the best work of their entire careers and my deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalise my team.
“So at this point, that’s what I’m working for. That’s what I’m hoping for. I’m hoping that the material, the power of the film, the timeliness of the story – I’m hoping that the good that can be done would open people’s hearts at a minimum to see and recognise and support the incredible artists in and around this film.”
"I completely understand that if…someone is not ready, I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready…My deepest hope is that my actions don't penalize my team."
Will Smith on audiences who aren't ready to watch his films after Oscars. #GoodDayDC pic.twitter.com/2fc3XaXbMa
— Kevin McCarthy (@KevinMcCarthyTV) November 28, 2022
Also while promoting the film, Smith appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, where he spoke in depth about his slapping of Rock at the Oscar ceremony.
“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 lost it,” he told Noah.
“I guess what I would say is you just never know what somebody’s going through.
“I was going through something that night, not that that justifies my behaviour at all.
“You’re asking what did I learn and it’s that, we just got to be nice to each other.
“It’s hard and I guess the thing that was most painful for me is I took my hard and made it hard for other people.”
He later added: “It was a lot of things. It was the little boy that watched his father beat up his mother.
“All of that just bubbled up in that moment. That’s not who I want to be.
“I understand how shocking that was for people.
“That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time.”
You can watch the interview with Noah below. Emancipation lands on Apple TV+ on 9 December.
Clip via The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
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