Will Smith returned to late night television on Monday when he appeared on Trevor Noah’s The Daily Show For the first time since
he slapped Chris Rock on stage at the Dolby Theater at this year’s Oscars.
When Noah asked the Academy Award winner about his experiences in the months following the slapping incident, Smith began by saying it was “a horrible night.” .
“[There’s] a lot of nuance and complexity, you know, but at the end of the day, I’m just, I lost it, you know,” Smith told Noah Ya. “Guess what I’d say, you never know what someone’s going through.”
He went on to explain that he was going through something that night, not “completely Justify my actions.”
“You’re asking, what have I learned? This is that we have to be kind to each other,” Smith said. “You know, it’s like, it’s hard. And I guess the most painful thing for me is, I’m working hard and making it hard for other people. You know, like, when they say hurting people hurts people, I understand the idea.”
Noah said he had a friend call him and say he thought they saw the real Smith on stage that night, but Noah Disagreed, saying he thought the actor was just standing up for the wrong thing at the wrong time. The Daily Show host went on to say things were getting “relentlessly vile,” and Smith reacted for the first time.
“It’s a lot of things,” the actor said. “It was the little boy who watched his dad beat his mom, you know, you know what, all of that just came out of that moment. You know, I just don’t want to be like that.”
When Noah told Smith he thought he made a mistake and didn’t think it was an actor, The Daily Show Viewers Cheers, Smith began to cry. Later in the conversation, he explained that he had a lot of anger that he had been suppressing for a long time.
“I had to forgive myself for being human,” Smith said. “Believe me, no one hates the fact that I’m human more than I do. Just finding that space within myself for myself to be a human being. Like, I want, I’ve always wanted to be Superman. You know, I’ve always wanted to rush in and save damsels in distress. I had to be humble, you know, and realize that I’m a flawed human being and I still have a chance to go out and contribute in a way that fills my heart and hopes Helps others.”
in his daily Showing off the appearance, Smith said that if audiences aren’t ready to see him in his upcoming film, he “totally” respects to liberate , but his “deepest hope” is that he is in 1235231404 Behavior during Academy Awards “Don’t punish my team.”
“I totally understand if someone hasn’t Be ready. I will absolutely respect that and allow room for them not to be ready,” Smith told Fox 5.
While acknowledging people have mixed feelings about watching him again, Smith added that his “most concern is my team” and being able to stand behind his actions Marching outside celebrates the film’s creative accomplishments. Smith singled out director Antoine Fuqua, cinematographer Robert Richardson, production designer Naomi Chauhan, costume designer Francine Jamison-Tanchuk and co-star Charmaine Binwa To his credit, the actor called the Apple Original film Fuqua the “greatest thing ever made” of his entire career. “
“The guys on this team have done the best work of their entire careers and it is my deepest hope that my actions will not punish my team,” he said. said. “So at this point, that’s what I work for. This is what I was hoping for. I hope the material, the power of the film, the timeliness of the story — I hope good things can be done — will at least open people’s hearts to see, recognize and support these incredible artists. around this movie. ”
