Will Smith Reveals If Jada Pinkett Smith Asked Him to Slap Chris Rock

Will Smith released a video where he addresses him slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars in March. In the video, Smith answered questions from fans about the incident, and one of the questions that stood out was “After Jada [Pinkett Smith] rolled her eyes did she tell you to do something?” Smith said his wife had nothing to do with the slap and he decided to go on stage and slap Rock. 

“No. I made a choice on my own, from my own experiences, from my history with Chris.,” Smith said. “Jada had nothing to do with it. I’m sorry, babe. Sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I brought onto all of us.” Along with apologizing to Jada and his kids, Smith issued an apology to Rock and said he wanted to talk to him about the incident. Smith revealed that Rock wasn’t ready to talk right now but will reach out once he feels the time is right. 

“I was fogged out by that point,” Smith says, explaining why he didn’t apologize to Rock when won the Academy Award for Best Actor. “It’s all fuzzy. I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk. And when he is, he will reach out.” Smith also apologized to Rock’s family, specifically his mother and brother. 

“That was one of the things about that moment. I just didn’t realize,” Smith stated. “I wasn’t thinking but how many people got hurt in that moment. So I want to apologize to Chris’ mother. I want to apologize to Chris’ family. Specifically, Tony Rock. We had a great relationship. You know, Tony rock was my man and this is probably irreparable.”

Smith struck Rock after a joke was made about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair. Jada is seen rolling her eyes once the joke was made, which led to some believing that she told her husband to slap Rock. In June, Jada broke her silence on the slap on her Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk. 

“My deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile,” she said. “The state of the world today, we need them both. And we all actually need one another more than ever. Until then, Will and I are continuing to do what we have done for the last 28 years, and that’s keep figuring out this thing called life together. Thank you for listening.”