Will Smith Opens Up about Oscars Slap

Hollywood star Will Smith has opened up to Trevor Noah about the infamous slap at the 93rd Oscars in March where he slapped host Chris Rock on his first late-night US talk show appearance since the incident.

While promoting his latest movie “Emancipation” on "The Daily Show", Smith described it as “a horrific night” and noted he “lost it” when he stormed the stage and slapped Rock for cracking a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head. It is not known if Rock knew Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia.

“And I guess what I would say, you just never know what somebody is going through. I was going through something that night. Not that that justifies my behavior at all,” he stated.

Smith shared that what was most painful to him was that his actions made it hard for other people.

“And it’s like I understood the idea where they say hurt people. That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time,” he added.

Smith apologized for his actions in a video posted online in June, he resigned from the Academy and has largely stayed out of the public eye since.

The Academy has sanctioned Smith by banning him from attending the Oscars for the next 10 years.

Smith shared that his childhood might have contributed to his outburst.

“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 … That was a horrific night, as you can imagine,” he stated.

Smith added: “There’s many nuances and complexities to it. But at the end of the day, I just – I lost it, you know. I guess what I would say is that you just never know what somebody’s going through.

“I was going through something that night, you know? Not that that justifies my behavior at all. I understand how shocking that was for people … I was gone. That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time.”

A study released in August found both Smith and his wife saw their popularity suffer a precipitous decline in the wake of the Oscars.