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Will Smith tried not to letpersonal baggagethe Slap keep him from this years Oscars race.
Ultimately, however, he andEmancipationwere snubbed by the Academy.
He made no mention of the infamous incident.
Is this a sign that hes finally ready to move on?
July 29, 2022:Smith makes avideo apologyto Chris Rock and Questlove four months after the Oscars ceremony.
(Smithfirst apologized in a statement days after the incident).
Why didnt you apologize to Chris in your acceptance speech?
I was fogged out by that point, Smith says.
Ive reached out to Chris, and the message that came back is that hes not ready to talk.
And when he is, he will reach out.
So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you.
My behavior was unacceptable, and Im here whenever youre ready to talk.
Later, he apologizes to Questlove and his fans.
The apology comes a week after Rock referenced the Slap in his Madison Square Garden set on July 23.
I guess what I would say, you just never know what somebodys going through.
He tells Noah that the phrase Hurt people hurt people finally made sense to him afterward.
You just dont know whats going on with people, he explains.
And I was going through something that night.
Not that that justifies my behavior at all, Smith adds.
Smith claims to have no independent recollection of the incident.
It was the little boy watching his mother beat up his father, he shares.
All of that bubbled up in that moment.
You know, just, thats not who I want to be.
That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time.
February 25, 2023:Smith wins Best Actor at the NAACP Image Awards.
I am absolutely humbled by this!!
Smith thanks the room for keeping our stories alive and describesEmancipationas the most challenging film of his career.
Smith specifically recalls a moment where a white actor spit on him in an ad lib.
Its really difficult to transport a modern mind to that time period.
Its difficult to imagine that level of inhumanity, Smith says.
He does not mention the Slap.
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