Will Smith opened up to Trevor Noah about the now-famous slap at the Oscars in March during an appearance that aired Monday night on “The Daily Show.”
While promoting his forthcoming film “Emancipation,” Smith called it “a horrific night” and said he “lost it” when he stormed the stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock.
Speaking to Trevor Noah , Smith described how he “just lost it” over Rock’s joke about Smith’s wife’s hair.
“That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time,” he said, prefacing his comments by saying his emotions didn’t justify his behavior.
“I guess what I would say is you just never know what someone is going through. I was going through something that night. … It’s like when they say ‘Hurt people hurt people,’ you know?”
Smith said his biggest challenge over the past eight months has been learning to forgive himself “for being human.”
“I had to humble down and realize that I’m a flawed human and I still have an opportunity to go out in the world and contribute in a way that fills my heart and hopefully helps other people,” he said.
Throughout the 20-minute interview, Noah spoke nearly as much as Smith, offering absolution and affection as a teary-eyed Smith nodded along.
“You are one of those rare breeds of people who’ve spent more time in the spotlight than out of it,” Noah said.
“I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I don’t want that to define you. I don’t think it should define you. I don’t think that any one of us in life deserves to be defined by our one f**k-up.”
Now, Smith is back at least, on screen. He is promoting his new film, “Emancipation,” which comes out in some theaters Friday and on Apple TV+ on Dec. 9. He stars as an enslaved person fighting to escape Louisiana after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
Smith made similar comments in clips of an interview with FOX 5 DC released earlier Monday. “My deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalize my team,” Smith said. “I’m hoping that the material, the power of the film, the timeliness of the story … would open people’s hearts at a minimum to see and recognize and support the incredible artists.”
Still, he said, if “someone is not ready [to watch the film], I would absolutely respect that.”
