London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Will Smith says bottled rage led him to slap Chris Rock at the Oscars

Will Smith has said his "bottled" rage led him to slap comedian Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars in March.

The actor has been interviewed for the first time since the incident, which he described as "a horrific night".

Appearing on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, he said: "I was going through something that night, you know?

"Not that that justifies my behaviour at all." Smith added that there were "many nuances and complexities to it", but added: "I just - I lost it."

Smith stormed the stage at the Hollywood award ceremony after Rock made a joke about Smith's wife Jada's shaved head. She has the hair loss condition alopecia.


'Hurt people hurt people'


"I understand how shocking that was for people," he told Noah. "I was gone. That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time."

He said he also understood the pain he had caused, and recalled the reaction of his nine-year-old nephew that night.

"He's the sweetest little boy," Smith said. "We came home and he had stayed up late to see his Uncle Will, and we're sitting in my kitchen, and he's on my lap and he's holding the Oscar, and he's just like, 'Why did you hit that man, Uncle Will?'

"It was a mess."

Will Smith and wife Jada attended post-Oscars party


The interview on the late-night US TV talk show was the first time Smith had been publicly challenged about the attack.

Smith told Noah he understood the often-quoted theory that "hurt people hurt people".

Discussing the background to his Oscars assault, the actor said: "It was a lot of things. It was the little boy that watched his father beat up his mother, you know? All of that just bubbled up in that moment. That's not who I want to be."

Smith has opened up before about growing up in an abusive home. His autobiography begins with a harrowing description of his father attacking his mother - an incident he said defined his childhood, and ultimately led to his career.


'I'm a flawed human'


Discussing the reasons for the slap, he said: "I guess what I would say is that you just never know what somebody's going through," without elaborating on what he was referring to.

Addressing the studio audience, he continued: "In the audience right now, you're sitting next to strangers, and somebody's mother died last week. You know? Somebody's child is sick. Somebody just lost their job. Somebody just found out their spouse cheated.

"There's all these things, and you just don't know what's going on with people. And I was going through something that night."

In the aftermath of the Oscars, he has "had to forgive myself for being human", he said.

"Trust me, there's nobody that hates the fact that I'm human more than me... I've always wanted to be Superman. I've always wanted to swoop in and save the damsel in distress.

"And I had to humble down and realise that I'm a flawed human, and I still have an opportunity to go out in the world and contribute in a way that fills my heart and hopefully helps other people."

The 54-year-old has been banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years, and has also resigned from the Academy, which organises the ceremony.

In July, he posted a video on YouTube, answering questions that appeared to be written by fans about the Academy Awards. Prior to that, he had only issued written statements about the altercation.

He appeared on Monday's episode of The Daily Show to promote his new film Emancipation, to be released next week, making it eligible for next year's Oscars.

Smith, who received this year's best actor award for King Richard after the slap, said the idea that his new the film would be "tainted" during the forthcoming awards season by his actions was "killing me dead".

"These top artists in the world have done some of the best work of their career," he said. "I hope that their work will be honoured, and their work will not be tainted based on a horrific decision on my part."


Watch: Will Smith acknowledges that Oscar slap was wrong


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×