Will Smith Makes Rare Comment About His Infamous ‘Oscars Slap’ originally appeared on Parade.
Will Smith’s 94th Oscars debacle went down in internet history as one of the most controversial moments of all time. While a good chunk of people were fully supportive of it, others were adamant that the award show was certainly not the time or place.
To recap the infamous Oscars slap: after actor Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith stood up and slapped him. Rock had said, “Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see you,” which was a reference to her hairstyle at the time. Pinkett Smith was sporting a buzz cut.
Will Smith took offense to that on her behalf, slapped him, and delivered a line that most people still remember: “Keep my wife’s name out of your mouth!”
Smith himself has stayed pretty quiet about the whole debacle. On Thursday, August 8th, however, he made an appearance on a podcast and gave everyone a little insight into the hours following the show. It wasn’t what anyone thought would have happened:
Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, which is why many (including the host) could sympathize with Will Smith’s reaction to the joke. One fan in these comments wrote, “He defended his wife. I’m cool with that.”
Even the podcast host said, “I’m going to defend my wife, any time, any place. I understood.” However, Smith is apparently not cool with it. When the podcast host asked him about the incident, he said:
“That was a horrific night for me.” He goes on to talk about a conversation he had after he got home with his little 9-year-old nephew, who apparently asked him, “Why’d you hit that man, Uncle Will?”
After wiping a couple of tears with a tissue, he says, “You can’t explain that to him. I can do all the justifications forever, but he’ll never understand it.”
Chris Rock apparently did apologize to Jada Pinkett Smith, and Will Smith has apologized to Chris Rock, but the internet is forever. Hopefully, everyone involved has learned a lesson.
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Will Smith Makes Rare Comment About His Infamous ‘Oscars Slap’ first appeared on Parade on Aug 8, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
