Chris Rock on Will Smith’s video apology: “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face."
Photos: @willsmith @chrisrock
In a reaction video, licensed family therapist Georgia Dow examines Smith’s video apology and find its insincere. She said in part: “For an apology to be good, it has to be sincere. The audience for this apology doesn’t really seem to be Chris or his family. It seems to be his fans. That’s who he’s talking to. It comes off more as a PR move than it is something that’s really genuine.”
Controversial Hollywood actor Will Smith posted an emotional apology video to Chris Rock over the weekend in regards to the slapping incident that happened during the 2022 Oscars Awards last March.
The said “deeply remorseful” video was Smith’s way of reaching out to Rock. But the comedian is still not ready to talk.
Though Smith won Best Actor for King Richard that fateful night, his victory was severely overshadowed by his inexcuseable action.
The consequences that followed for Smith were pretty much a smack on his face as well. The Academy banned him to attend their event for 10 years and four of his upcoming projects for this year were all shelved. In fact, one director refuses to work with him again.
On his verified Instagram account, Smith posted a video and can be heard sighing as he enters the screen and addresses to the camera why he didn’t apologize to Rock during his Oscars acceptance speech.
“Over the last few months, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and personal work. You asked a lot of fair questions that I wanted to take some time to answer.
“I was fogged out by that point. 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. So I will say to you Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you are ready to talk.
“I want to apologize to Chris’s mother. I saw an interview that Chris’ mother did and, you know, that was one of the things about that moment I just didn’t realize, and, you know, I wasn’t thinking, but how many people got hurt in that moment.
So I want to apologize to Chris’s mother. I want to apologize to Chris’s family, specifically Tony Rock. We had a great relationship. Tony Rock (Chris’s brother) was my man. This is probably irreparable.
“I spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuances and the complexities of what happened in that moment. And I’m not going to try to unpack all of that right now. But I can say to all of you, there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment.
“There’s no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults.
“I wanna say sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I brought on all of us. To all my fellow nominees, you know, this is a community, It’s like I won because you voted for me. And it really breaks my heart to have stolen and tarnished your moment.
“Disappointing people is my central trauma. I hate when I let people down so it hurts. I’m committed to putting light and love and joy into the world. If you hang on I promise we’ll be able to be friends again.”
According to CNN, Rock was on stage at the Fox Theatre Atlanta, Georgia for his Ego Death World Tour when Smith’s video was released via social media.
Rock didn’t address the apology, but told the crowd: “Everybody is trying to be a f—ing victim. If everybody claims to be a victim, then nobody will hear the real victims. Even me getting smacked by Suge Smith. I went to work the next day, I got kids,” he said, referring to jailed Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight who is currently serving 28 years for voluntary manslaughter.
Rock adds: “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face.”
In a reaction video, licensed family therapist Georgia Dow examines Smith’s apology and breaks down what he does right, and the parts which come across as inauthentic. She praises him for not making excuses for the slap and owning up to it, but finds his stilted delivery curious.
“It’s robotic, it’s practiced, I don’t feel any emotions coming through. I think, for Will, this is a defense mechanism… but I think it takes away from that genuineness we need to see.”
The biggest problem with the apology video, in Dow’s view, is that there is very little sense of any real remorse on Smith’s part for his actions at the Oscars.
“For an apology to be good, it has to be sincere. The audience for this apology doesn’t really seem to be Chris or his family. It seems to be his fans. That’s who he’s talking to. It comes off more as a PR move than it is something that’s really genuine.
“I don’t think the apology has anything to do with Chris. Those are two huge differences in where you hold your accountability, and that’s really important when we’re trying to let people know that we’re working on changing.”
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