On Monday, November 28th, Will Smith appeared on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah for the first time since he slapped Chris Rock on the Dolby Theatre stage at this year’s Oscars. When Noah asked Smith about the time since the slapping incident, Smith started by saying that “it was a horrific night.”
He continued to say that, “[There are] many nuances and complexities to it, you know, but at the end of the day, I just, I lost it, you know, I guess what I would say, you just never know what somebody’s going through.”
Smith went on to explain that he was going through a lot at the time not that that “justifies my behavior at all. You’re asking, what did I learn? And it’s that we just got to be nice to each other, man, You know, it’s like, it’s hard. And I guess the thing that was most painful for me is, I took my hard and made it hard for other people. You know, it’s like, I understood the idea when they say hurt people hurt people.” He continued to say, “It was a lot of things, It was the little boy that watched his father beat up his mother, you know, is that you know, all of that just bubbled up in that moment. You know, I just that’s not who I wanna be.”
Noah told Smith that he doesn’t think that is really who the actor is and that he made a mistake that night. Smith teared up and the audience applauded. Smith explained that, “I had to forgive myself for being human, Trust me, there’s nobody that hates the fact that I’m human more than me. And just finding that space for myself within myself to be human. It’s like, I want, I’ve always wanted to be Superman. I’ve always wanted to swoop in and save the damsel in distress, you know. And I had to humble down, you know, and realize that I’m a flawed human, and I still have an opportunity to go out in the world and contribute in a way that fills my heart, and hopefully helps other people.”
—
Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com