American actor Will Smith posted an emotional new apology for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, noting that he reached out to the comedian who was not yet "ready to talk."
"Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable. And I'm here, whenever you're ready to talk," Smith said in the nearly six-minute video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXrxDKwlA_s
The 53-year-old actor made a public apology shortly after the incident and was banned from attending the Oscars for the next 10 years after the slap. He also resigned his membership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- although the organization did not revoke his best actor award for "King Richard."
In the video posted to social media Friday, Smith said his wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who was seated next to him and grimaced as Rock joked about her, said nothing to prompt his attack.
"I made a choice on my own," he said, apologizing also to Pinkett-Smith and the couple's children "for the heat that I brought on all of us."
"There's no part of me that thinks that's the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults," added the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor, who at one point in the video appears to be fighting tears.
On his part, Rock addressed the slap earlier this month during a stand-up set in New Jersey, Us Weekly reported.
"Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face," he joked, before adding "I'm not a victim... I don't go to the hospital for a papercut."
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