The entire world was shocked back in March when the Hollywood star Will Smith stormed the stage at the Oscars and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, being bald.
Now, the Hollywood director, producer, and actor Tyler Perry is revealing more details about the moments that occurred after the Oscars slap.
Tyler Perry Speaks Out About That Photo of Him & Will Smith After the Oscars Slap pic.twitter.com/CDf9YOksyI
— Maurizio Glovia (@MaurizioGlovia) June 14, 2022
Perry Sounds Off On What Happened After The Slap
While Perry had been pictured speaking to Smith moments after the slap, he clarified to Gayle King in a new interview that he wasn’t “comforting” him, and instead was “deescalating” the situation.
“There’s a difference between comforting and deescalating, that’s No. 1,” Perry explained, according to People Magazine. “And I left early to get to Chris to make sure he was okay. Being friends with both of them has been very difficult.”
“Trust me, as painful as it was for all of us in the room, it was as painful for Chris, who was a pure champion for the way he handled it,” he continued. “But I want you to understand that something happened that was extremely painful for [Will] as well. That is no excuse. He was completely wrong for what he did. But something triggered him — that is so out of everything he is.”
‘He Was Devastated’
Perry went on to say that the slap was “wrong in no uncertain terms, and I made sure I said that to Will.”
“And I’ll tell you, when we walked over to him, he was devastated. He couldn’t believe what happened. He couldn’t believe he did it,” Perry recalled. “I’m looking at this man in his eyes going, ‘What are you doing? This is your night.'”
“And to get all the way to this moment, winning an Oscar, that was one of the crowning moments of his career that he wanted so desperately, and to have something like that happen…” he added.
Related: Will And Jada Pinkett Smith May Be Heading For ‘Ugliest’ Divorce After Oscars Slap, Sources Allege
Update On Smith
Perry then gave an update on how Smith is doing now.
“I think he is very much in reflection of trying to figure out what happened,” he continued. “Because what I’ll tell you is I just read his book, and there’s this moment about not being able to protect his mother [as a child].”
“I know that feeling — I’m getting chills just thinking about it,” he concluded. “I know that feeling of being a man and thinking about the little boy. And if that trauma is not dealt with right away, as you get older it will show up in the most inappropriate, most horrible time. I know Will. I know him well.”
In the wake of Smith slapping Rock, he was banned from all Academy events, including the Oscars, for the next ten years. In addition, virtually all of his Hollywood projects have been put on hold over the incident, and he is said to be in therapy.
Jada Breaks Her Silence
Smith’s wife Jada recently spoke out publicly about the incident for the first time on her internet show “Red Table Talk.”
“About Oscar night: My deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile,” she said. “With the state of the world today, we need ’em 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 [to] keep figuring out this thing called life together,” Jada continued. “Thank you for listening.”
Full Story: Jada Pinkett Smith Speaks Out About Oscars Slap For The First Time
It remains to be seen if Smith’s career will ever recover from this, or if he’ll be cancelled for good.
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