The controversy has probably not finished rebounding. American actor Will Smith issued a public apology on Monday evening to comedian Chris Rock, whom he had slapped on the Oscars stage the day before after a joke about his wife.
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. What I did was inappropriate and I was wrong.” wrote Will Smith on his Instagram account. “My behavior last night at the Oscars was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s health issue was too much for me and I reacted emotionally.” he explained, explicitly rejecting “all violence”.
He also asked for forgiveness from the organizers and all those who attended the scene, as well as from the “Williams family” and the film crew King Richard (the Williams Method in French), in which he plays the father of the tennis champion sisters and for which he won the Oscar for best actor.
This apology from Will Smith comes shortly after the Academy of Oscars announced the opening of an internal investigation into this incident. “The Academy Condemns Mr. Smith’s Actions During Last Night’s Show,” the organization wrote in a statement. “We have officially started an investigation,” specifies the Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences, which will examine the follow-up to be given to the case with regard to its “California regulations and law”.
It was a joke by Chris Rock about the shaved head of Jada Pinkett Smith, suffering from alopecia – an autoimmune disease causing severe hair loss, which she revealed to be suffering from a few years ago – which had triggered the scandal. Will Smith went on stage and slapped Chris Rock under the dumbfounded eyes of celebrities and viewers. The 53-year-old actor yelled at him “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” back in his chair.