Will Smith Issues Apology After Slapping Chris Rock At Oscars, Tim Allen Shares His Thoughts

John F. Trent |

Mar 28, 2022

King Richard actor Will Smith issued an apology after he slapped Chris Rock on the Oscars following a joke the comedian made regarding his wife’s bald head.

Chris Rock joked, “Jada, I love you, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.” He then added, “That was a nice one,” seemingly implying that the joke was tame and he could have easily been more insulting.

Following this joke, Smith walked up on stage and slapped Rock on the face. After slapping him he turned around and walked to his seat.

After being slapped, Rock replied, “Oh wow. Wow. Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me.”

Upon returning to his seat, Smith yelled at Rock, “Leave my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!

Rock responded, “Wow, dude. It was a G.I. Jane joke.” Smith then responded, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.”

“I’m going to, okay?”, responds Rock. “That was the greatest night in the history of television,” he added before returning to the programming of the night.

VIA JAPANESE TELEVISION: The uncensored exchange between Will Smith and Chris Rock pic.twitter.com/j0Z184ZyXa

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 28, 2022

Smith would later win the Best Actor award, where he shared a brief apology saying, “I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all of my fellow nominees.”

“This is a beautiful moment and I’m not — I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine light on all of the people: Tim, and Trevor, and Zack, and Saniyaa, and Demi, and Aunjanue, and the entire cast and crew of King Richard, Venus and Serena, and the entire Williams family,” he added.

https://youtu.be/YVvgCMZSkyw

Tim Allen would react to Smith slapping Rock writing on Twitter, “It’s not ok to come up on stage and hit a dude cause you don’t like the humor. It’s not ok at a Comedy Club, concert hall or hosting some cheeseball award show. ”

“Chris Rock is a stand up comedian and a standup guy who carried on. I think I would have run,” Allen speculated.

Allen’s reaction stands in stark contrast to fellow comedian Tiffany Haddish who praised Smith slapping Chris Rock.

She told Entertainment Tonight, “First of all, I seen a man stand up for his wife, which we don’t see that much anymore. That made me have hope.”

Haddish would also share her thoughts on Smith’s acceptance speech, “I felt very proud. I felt gratified and I just hope that more men are like that, care about their families. It’s not just about you, right? It’s not just about you, sir. What about your family? The people you create, the people that help you be who you are. That’s important. That’s what I think America forgot about.”

While Smith offered an apology during his acceptance speech, he didn’t specifically apologize for his act of violence against Chris Rock. He has now done so in an Instagram post.

Smith began the post writing, “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable.”

“Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally,” he explained.

I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong,” Smith apologized.

“I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be,” he continued. “There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness. ”

Smith went on writing, “I would also like to apologize to the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees and everyone watching around the world.”

” I would like to apologize to the Williams Family and my King Richard Family. I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us,” he stated.

He concluded, “I am a work in progress.”