The more he dragged this on, the harder it would be for Will Smith to make people think he didn’t really mean to slap Chris Rock and he truly feels apologetic about it. It’s already been four months since that single moment at the Oscars made the entire world pay attention to an otherwise outdated ceremony. Will Smith managed to make the Academy Awards interesting again, kudos to him for that.
In doing so, he nearly killed his entire career for showing a face that he probably already has behind closed doors. It was evident he needed to do some thorough damage control but he had to think about the way he was going to go about it. A direct apology to Chris Rock was the first order of business for him, but it had to be in a safe envirnment. No pressing questions from journalists and no direct interview with Oprah just yet. Smith needed to get this off his chest and there was no better way than through his own Youtube channel.
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‘It’s been a minute…’
This is what Will Smith said through a video titled, ‘It’s been a minute…’: “I reached out to Chris, and the message that came back is he’s not ready to talk but when he is, he will reach out. I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. my behavior was unacceptable, and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk. That was one of the things about that moment that I didn’t realize. I wasn’t thinking about how many people got hurt in that moment. I want to apologize to Chris’ mother, to Chris’ family, especially his brother Tony Rock. This is probably irreparable.
“Disappointing people is my central trauma. I hate when I let people down, so it hurts psychologically and emotionally to know that I didn’t live up to people’s image and impression of me. The work I’m trying to do is I am deeply remorseful, and I’m trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself. I’m simply a human who made a mistake and I’m trying not to think of myself as a piece of shit. I know it was confusing. I know it was shocking, but I promise you I am deeply devoted to putting light and love and joy into the world.”
Marca
