After a string of online statements and quiet public appearances over recent months, Will Smith re-entered the spotlight Monday night, appearing in an interview on “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah.” Promoted by a new historical drama, Emancipation, Smith’s conversation with the late-night host naturally delves into his Oscars night controversy, slapping Chris Rock onstage while the comedian was presenting the Best Documentary category.
“I was away,” Will Smith said, giving a laugh from the audience when he brought up the subject of his absence from the public eye. “What were you doing?”
“That was an awful night, as you can imagine. There are many nuances and complexities. But at the end of the day, I just—I lost it, you know?” Smith continued. “I was going through something that night, you know? It doesn’t excuse my behavior at all… It was just a lot of stuff. It was the little boy who watched his father hit his mother, you know? It all came out in that moment. That’s not what I want.” to be “.
Noah intervened, offering his own perspective on the situation and recalling the discussions he had with his peers about the controversy.
“I love Chris. I’m friends with him. I love you, but it’s annoying… I know that as black people, black people get together and go, ‘What would he do?’ What the hell happened?’ A lot of black people were like, “He should go to jail, like, you need to relax yourself,” Noah said, making Smith laugh. “Some people were overreacting, which made some people overreact.”
Smith shared an anecdote from the events that followed on the evening of the Oscars, when he actually had to deal with the consequences of his upheaval in his private life.
“I’m gone. That was a rage that was bottled up for a really long time, and my nephew is nine,” Smith said. He is the sweetest little boy. We are back home. He’s been staying up late seeing his Uncle Will and we’re sitting in my kitchen and he’s on my lap holding his Oscar and he’s just like, “Why did you hit that guy, Uncle Will?” damn it. Why are you trying Opera Lee? ”
Smith also discussed “emancipation”, participating in the decision-making that led him to the project. Based on true events, Smith plays a runaway slave who becomes known to the world as “Whipped Peter,” as widely circulated images of the keloid scars on his back reveal the extreme brutality of slavery.
“Seeing that photo first was one of the things that got me excited to explore this, because you see the photo, but you don’t know who it is, you don’t know what the story is,” said Smith. “American slavery was one of the most brutal aspects of human history… The level of human cruelty is hard to fathom. My daughter asked me, ‘Dad, do we really need another slave movie? freedom “.
In a recent interview with Vanity FairDirector Antoine Fuqua spoke about the decision to release “Emancipation” eight months after Smith’s controversy at the Academy Awards, saying, “The movie for me is bigger than that moment.”
Fuqua said, “Four hundred years of slavery is greater than one moment.” “I hope people see it that way, watch the movie, and get swept away by the fantastic performance by Will and all the real hard work by the entire crew.”
“Emancipation” will premiere in select theaters on Friday before premiering on Apple TV+ on December 9.
Watch Noah’s full interview with Smith below.
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