In a YouTube video, Will Smith apologizes to Chris Rock for the slap heard around the globe from this year’s Oscar Awards.
Will Smith has a lot to apologize for…
One: That Cosby sweater jacket on the cover of 1991’s Homebase
Two: The Wild Wild West.
Three: Executive producing that grim remake of NBC’s comedy, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Four: Helping M. Night Shyamalan make their collective worst movie ever with After Earth.
Oh, and slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars. That’s probably the most terrible wrong that Smith has ever committed. At the very least, it is neck-and-neck with After Earth.
Now, after three months, and comedian and actor Rock finally getting a little more comfortable making jokes at Smith’s expense (Rock wasn’t feeling so funny toward Will when he performed in Atlantic City at the top of his 2022 stand-up tour a week after the Oscars incident), Smith has issued an apology on YouTube.
Before I mention what was in it, I have a theory: right after the slap heard around the world, Apple+ TV – the producer and distributor of Smith’s upcoming Oscar-worthy contender, Emancipation with director Antoine Fuqua – began discussing the shelving of its proposed hit to make some distance between Smith’s indiscretion and the film’s release. At the same time, Martin Scorsese’s planned-for-2023 Killers of the Flower Moon – also for Apple+ TV, and another Oscar contender – was given a holiday 2022 date. All this was in action in order to keep the Academy Awards flowing after Apple+ TV won the Best Picture of the Year 2022 Oscar for CODA.
But earlier this week, Scorsese announced that he would not have Killers of the Flower Moon edited and ready for the 2022 Oscar season, and instead was moving its release back to its intended drop: 2023 and festival season. Start the clocks ticking and expect Smith’s apology tour to aid in getting his Emancipation drama out in theaters for 2022 Award season. He may not be allowed to attend the Oscar ceremony next year as part of his slap penance, but it would be a feather in his cap if he could be involved with back-to-back Oscar wins. Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the voting organization behind the Oscars, so who knows what that all means anyway when it comes to future award nods.
As for today’s apology, it looked stiff and as if he was reading the whole time from floating cue cards while feigning crocodile tears. The whole industrial set with books behind him seemed weird. He said that Chris Rock wasn’t quite ready to speak with Smith about getting slapped in the face, despite Will reaching out.
“It’s all fuzzy,” a bearded Smith said. “I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is he’s not ready to talk, and when he is, he will reach out.”
Smith said that the slap was probably not the way to deal with anger, criticism or jokes. “There is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment… There’s no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults.”
That Smith probably lost a friend forever in Tony Rock – Chris’ brother – because, you know, slapping someone’s sibling on live television is more than likely an un-forgive-able offense. He told the world that Jada Pinkett Smith’s eye roll meant nothing and that she did not encourage him to slap Rock. No one believes this.
Overall, the shit looked as phony as it sounded. Whatever. Apologize for that Homebase sweater, man.
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