Read Will Smith's apology to Chris Rock
Will Smith slaps actor and comedian Chris Rock onstage during the Oscars. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
Will Smith has apologized publicly for hitting Chris Rock across the face on the Oscars stage on Sunday night.
“Violence is poisonous and harmful in all of its manifestations. My actions at the Academy Awards last night was both inappropriate and inexcusable, “Smith took to Instagram to express himself.
The apology comes only hours after Smith’s actions were denounced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which initiated an official investigation into the event.
The fight between Smith and Rock erupted after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
When Rock took the stage to present the Oscar for best documentary feature, he made a joke about the marriage. Rock joked that he was excited to see Pinkett Smith in G.I. Jane 2 because of her shorn head. She shaved her head due to alopecia, a hair loss disorder.
“Jokes at my expense are a part of the work,” Smith wrote in his apology, “but a joke about Jada’s physical condition was too much for me to handle, and I reacted emotionally.”
Pinkett Smith has been open about her alopecia: “Me and this alopecia are going to be friends… period!” she posted on Instagram in December.
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