Will Smith posted a nearly six-minute apology video Friday to his personal YouTube channel.
“It’s been a minute,” the title sequence of Smith’s first video in four months read. Smith’s last video was posted 10 days before the Oscars, where the actor slapped host Chris Rock over a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. “Over the last few months, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and personal work. You asked a lot of fair questions that I wanted to take some time to answer.”
In the video, Smith is seen reading questions and responding to them. After he read the first question, about why the actor didn’t apologize personally to the comedian, Smith issued an apology, calling his behavior “unacceptable” and also apologizing to Rock’s mother.
WATCH: JADA PINKETT SMITH BREAKS SILENCE ON OSCARS SLAP AND CALLS FOR RECONCILIATION
“This is probably irreparable,” Smith says in the video, referring to the slap. “I can say to all of you there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment. There’s no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insult.”
Smith verified that Pinkett Smith did not ask him to get involved after she was visibly annoyed by Rock’s joke about her lack of hair. Pinkett Smith had shaved her head following an alopecia diagnosis. Smith’s video comes nearly two months after Pinkett Smith responded to the incident and called for reconciliation.
“‘I’m sorry’ really isn’t sufficient,” Smith said. “I am deeply remorseful, and I’m trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself, right? I’m human, and I made a mistake, and I’m trying not to think of myself as a piece of s***.”
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As a result of Smith slapping Rock, the actor has been banned from the Oscars for 10 years. This will not preclude him from being nominated for Academy Awards in the future. Smith had already left the Academy by the time his ban was announced.
