‘I was overreacting and I was wrong’

One day after slapping Chris Rock in the face on the Oscar 2022 stage, actor Will Smith publicly apologized to his colleagues on his personal Facebook page. He wrote: “Violence of any kind is toxic and destructive. My behavior at the Oscars last night was unacceptable and inexcusable.

It was okay to joke with me, but joking about Jada’s health was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally. I want to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was overreacting and I was wrong. I’m embarrassed and my actions don’t represent the man I want to be. There is no room for violence in the world of love and compassion.

I would also like to apologize to the Academy, the ceremony organisers, and everyone who attended and watched the 2022 Oscars around the world. I would like to apologize to the Williams family and to my King Richard family. I deeply regret that my behavior has tarnished what was once a beautiful journey for all of us. I’m still an imperfect person…”

The Academy also released a statement: “The Academy condemns Mr. Smith’s actions at last night’s performance. We have commenced a formal review of the incident and will seek resolution consistent with our Code, Standards of Conduct, and California law.”

Will Smith’s slap is the hottest moment of this year’s Oscars. Chris Rock was beaten because he made an ungrateful joke about the appearance of Jada Pinkett Smith – the wife of actor Will Smith, who has hair loss syndrome. Chris joked that he couldn’t wait for Jada to star in GI Jane 2 because she was shaving her head, like GI Jane.

Will Smith stormed onto the stage to ask Chris Rock to stop mentioning his wife’s name and hit his colleague in the face with his fist. Later, when accepting the award, Will Smith apologized to the American Film Academy for his violent behavior: “I’m sorry for acting like the crazy dad Richard Williams in the movie.”

Oscar ratings jumped 56% to 15.4 million after Will Smith’s slap, almost double the most pathetic level in history of last year – just 9.85 million viewers. However, compared to the total rating of the years, this is still a low number.

In 2015, the Oscars ceremony that saw 37.3 million viewers was considered a sharp drop, and since then, the number has been in free fall. In its heyday, the largest film awards ceremony on the planet had about 45 million views.