Will Smith to Sit Down for Interview on Netflix Series, Won't Address Oscars Slap

Will Smith is slated to appear on David Letterman's Netflix talk show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman, but don't expect a candid interview, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Netflix on Thursday announced the lineup for season four of Letterman's post- "Late Show" talk program, and Smith is among the guests.

But the network noted that all six episodes of the Letterman show were shot before March, so Smith won't be addressing the fallout from his incident at the 2022 Oscars. The star won the best-actor Academy Award for King Richard. Still, the night went awry when he assaulted Chris Rock on stage in response to the comedian referencing the baldness of Smith's wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia. The famous Hollywood actor then walked onstage and smacked Rock.

The fourth season of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, hosted by Letterman, premieres on May 20. It will also feature Cardi B, Kevin Durant, Billie Eilish, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Ryan Reynolds. The streaming service also announced that all six episodes of the latest season were filmed before March 2022 and will be available that day.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Smith, 53, has sought help in the wake of his infamous slap at the Academy Awards. A source told Entertainment Tonight that he had gone to therapy after the Oscars incident. Smith has not confirmed these reports. Rumors of him seeking treatment came soon after arriving by private plane in Mumbai on April 23. After his arrival, he posed for photos with fans before setting out on his day. He was said to be seeking spiritual refuge in India. After the incident, Will resigned from the Academy before the organization announced that he would be banned from attending any Oscars-related event for the next 10 years.

Although Rock hasn't yet publicly addressed the incident, he claims he will do so in the future. At Dave Chappelle's Netflix Is a Joke Festival, he did joke about the assailant rushing the stage. Rock asked, "Was that Will Smith?" when security took the assailant down. Pinkett Smith has addressed the issue only once. "Considering all that has happened in the last few weeks, the Smith family has been focusing on deep healing. Some of the discoveries around our healing will be shared at the table when the time calls," she said in a statement ahead of the debut of the current season of Red Table Talk. "Until then... the table will continue offering itself to powerful, inspiring, and healing testimonies like that of our incredibly impressive first guest. Thanks for joining us, Jada."