Zoë Kravitz Addresses Backlash to Will Smith Oscars Slap Comments

Zoë Kravitz faced some backlash over her comments about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. The actress has now addressed the situation, saying that she wishes she “had handled that differently.” Following the March awards ceremony, Kravitz shared a photo of herself from the event and captioned it, “Here’s a picture of my dress at the show where we are apparently assaulting people on stage now.” She has since deleted the social media post. 

Speaking to WSJ. Magazine for their Fall 2022 Women’s Fashion issue, the Big Little Lies actress acknowledged the critical response to her post and comment, saying, “It’s a scary time to have an opinion or to say the wrong thing or to make controversial art or statements or thoughts or anything.” She added, “It’s mostly scary because art is about conversation. That should, in my opinion, always be the point. The internet is the opposite of conversation. The internet is people putting things out and not taking anything in.” Alongside the aforementioned post, Kravitz also shared a second photo, writing, “And here is a picture of my dress at the party after the award show -where we are apparently screaming profanities and assaulting people on stage now.”

During the big awards show, Smith took issue with a G.I. Jane that Rock made about Jada Pinkett-Smith, the Independence Day star’s wife. Smith left his seat, approached Rock on the stage, and hit him with a hard open-hand slap. He also yelled to Rock, after returning to his seat, to “keep my wife’s name out of your f—ing mouth.”

Following the violent outburst, Smith took to social media to issue an apology. “Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally,” he wrote on Instagram, insinuating that the joke was specifically bout Pinkett-Smith’s alopecia condition. “I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”

Smith added, “Violence in all forms is poisonous and destructive.” The actor also apologized to “the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees and everyone watching around the world,” as well as Venus and Serena Williams and their families, as it was his role in the biopic King Richard about them and their father that landed him an Oscar. “I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us,” Smith concluded. “I am a work in progress.”