Will Smith is testing the social media waters again after taking a hiatus following his controversial Oscars moment. It’s been almost a month since Will Smith apologized to Chris Rock in an emotional video. Of course, Smith’s apology was for slapping the comedian live on stage at the Academy Awards moments before winning the Best Actor award for his performance in King Richard. While Rock has continued to perform his stand-up routine across the country, Smith has kept a much lower profile, as many of his acting gigs have dried up. With his apologies finally out of the way, Will Smith is now looking to rejoin social media again.
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The prolific actor shared a video on Instagram featuring a young gorilla poking a larger gorilla from behind. The larger gorilla would swipe the younger gorilla away, only for the latter to return to start the process all over again. Smith captioned the video, “Me trying to get back on social.”
Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan commented on the post, “ANIMAL KINGDOM IS WITH YOU WILL.” The majority of the comments are of a positive nature, with many people showing Smith support, from celebrities to fans alike. Will Smith’s last Instagram post was his apology video to Chris Rock. Theย King Richardย actor opened the video with a title card that reads, “It’s been a minute… 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.” Smith immediately addressed the controversy, noting he didn’t apologize to Rock in his acceptance speech because he was “fogged out at that point.”
“It’s all fuzzy. I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is he is not ready to talk,” Smith explained. “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’re ready to talk.”ย
Smith continued by extending his apology towards the Rock Family.
“I want to apologize to Chris’s mother. I saw an interview that Chris’s mother did, and that was one of the things about that moment,” Smith continued. “I didn’t realize and I wasn’t thinking [about] how many people got hurt in that moment. 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 was my man, and this is probably irreparable.”
Chris Rock’s mother, Rosalie Rock, said in a past interview that the slap affected her entire family.
“When he slapped Chris, he slapped all of us. He really slapped me,” Rosalie said. “You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye and you went and made her day because she was mulled over laughing when it happened.”
The Deadshot actor noted he has been working on himself since the Oscars ceremony, and knows that his decision that night was ultimately the wrong one.
“I spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuances and the complexities of what happened in that moment,” Smith said. “And I’m not going to try to unpack all of that right now, but I can say to all of you [that] 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.”
In response to Will Smith’s physical attack on Chris Rock, The Academy banned Smith from The Oscars for 10 years.