Oscars 2022: Emotional Will Smith Apologizes After Slapping Chris Rock

Emotional Will Smith has apologized after slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars 2022.

Will Smith won his first Academy Award on Sunday night and offered his apologies to the Academy and others for an earlier incident in which the actor appeared to strike presenter Chris Rock.

Smith got emotional during his acceptance speech and apologized after he shocked audiences and viewers by slapping Chris Rock for making a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith earlier during the show.

“I want to apologize to the Academy, I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,” Smith said with tears in his eyes. “This is a beautiful moment and I’m not crying for winning an award, it’s not about winning an award for me.”

“Art imitates life, I look like the crazy father,” he added, as some in the audience laughed. “Love will make you do crazy things.”

He said, “I know to be able to do what we do you gotta be able to take abuse, you gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business you gotta have people disrespecting you and you gotta pretend that that’s OK…Denzel [Washington] said to me a few minutes ago, ‘At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.’

“I want to say thank you to Venus and Serena and the entire Williams family for entrusting me with your story. That’s what I want to do. I want to be an ambassador of that kind of care and love and concern.”

Smith ended saying that he hopes the Academy welcomes him back.