Will Smith Tears Up, Tries to Defend “Horrific” Oscar Night Slap of Chris Rock

Remember when Will Smith slapped the ish out of Chris Rock right on stage at the 2022 Academy Awards?

We’re just kidding.

Of course you do.

Who could ever forget one of the most bizarre events in entertainment history?

The actor — who won his first-ever Oscar in March, only to sully the honor by smacking Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife — appeared as a guest on The Daily Show on Monday.

“There are many nuances to it, and complexities to it, but at the end of the day I just, I lost it,” the star admitted of his actions, referring to the evening as “horrific” and adding:

“I guess what I would say, you just never know what somebody’s going through.”

Will then told Trevor Noah’s audience that, yes, he was “going through something that night,” although he did not elaborate or specify.

The stunning took place after Rock made a “G.I. Jane” joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia.

Rock subsequently said that he was unaware of her condition.

“You’re asking, what did I learn. It’s that, we just gotta be nice to each other, man,” Smith continued on Monday.

“It’s like, it’s hard. I guess the thing that was the most painful for me is, I took my hard and made it hard for other people.”

Telling the host that he “was gone” that night, Smith said, “that was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time,” even attributing part of his response to his childhood at another point by stating:

“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.”

Smith then grew emotional when bringing up how his nine-year old nephew eventually asked why his uncle hit Rock.

“Dammit, why you trying to Oprah me?” he joked to Noah. “It was a mess. I don’t want to go too far into it and give people more to misunderstand.”

Smith, meanwhile, has been banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years.

He says he’s fine with this punishment on a personal level, but is concerned that his actions several months ago might prevent various cast or crew members on his latest movie, Emancipation, from receiving recognition next year.

“The idea that they might be denied because of me,” he said on air.

“That is killing me dead … I hope that their work will be honored and their work will not be tainted based on a horrific decision on my part.”

In the wake of his slap and his aforementioned punishment, Smith issued an apology on March 29.

“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive,” said Smith back then.

“My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable…

“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong,” continued Smith. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be.

“There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”

From what we can gather, Chris Rock has commented at times on the incident, but has not spoken to Smith since it happened.

Will Smith Tears Up, Tries to Defend “Horrific” Oscar Night Slap of Chris Rock was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip .