They were expected, they arrived less than twenty-four hours after the incident that everyone is talking about in Hollywood. Actor Will Smith apologized on Instagram on Monday March 28 to comedian Chris Rock, whom he slapped the day before on the Oscars stage after he made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
“My behavior last night at the Oscars was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are part of the job, but one joke about Jada’s health issue was too much for me and I reacted emotionally. »
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. What I did was inappropriate and I was wrong. I’m embarrassed and my act doesn’t represent the man I want to be. Violence has no place in a world of love and kindness. »
It was a joke by Chris Rock about the shaved head of Jada Pinkett Smith, suffering from alopecia – a disease causing significant hair loss, which she revealed to suffer from a few years ago – which triggered the scandal. Will Smith then went on stage and slapped him. “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” “ , Launches the 53-year-old actor twice, once back in his chair.
Will Smith apologized shortly after the Academy of Oscars announced the opening of an internal investigation into the incident. It will examine the follow-up to be given to the case with regard to its “regulations and California law” . ” The Academy condemns Mr. Smith’s actions during last night’s show,” the organization wrote in a statement.
Chris Rock did not file a complaint
What is the risk of Will Smith, crowned “best actor” a little later for his role in The Williams Method ? Some have called on the Academy of Oscars to withdraw his award.
Actress Whoopi Goldberg, one of the Academy’s trustees, felt that would not be the case. “There will be consequences, I’m sure, but I don’t think that’s what they’re going to do, especially because Chris Rock said he wouldn’t press charges ,” she said. said on TV. On the criminal level either, no prosecution seems possible at this stage, for lack of a complaint from Chris Rock, the Los Angeles police said on Sunday evening.
Will Smith would therefore only expose himself to disciplinary sanctions, which can range, according to the code of conduct of the Academy, from a simple reprimand to expulsion.
The first punishment inflicted on the actor came from social networks, where many denounced the violence he showed. The strongest condemnation came from American actor and director Judd Apatow, in a tweet which he later deleted but which comedian Mia Farrow took up: “ [Will Smith] could have killed him. He simply lost control of his anger and his violence. He lost his mind.
The star player of the San Francisco Golden State Warriors, basketball player Stephen Curry, said he was “still in shock, like everyone else” .
For British writer Bernardine Evaristo, whose father is Nigerian, Will Smith missed an opportunity to set an example, especially for African-Americans: while he is “only the fifth black in nearly a hundred years to win an Oscar for a title role and the first in sixteen years, [he] resorts to violence instead of using the power of words to defeat Chris Rock” , she denounced on Twitter. “And then he invokes God and the love that would have made him do this ,” she further castigated.
Some supporters
Richard Williams, father of tennis champions Serena and Venus Williams, whom Will Smith plays in his film, said through his son’s voice that he “does not condone any violence against anyone” , according to NBC television.
Will Smith first apologized to the Academy of Oscars on Sunday saying, in tears, that “love makes you do crazy things” , while condemning “people who disrespect you” .
Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs assured Sunday after the ceremony that the two men had passed on this stroke of blood. ” This is not a problem. It’s finish. I can confirm that,” Diddy told gossip site Page Six.
“Everything is fine” , confirmed shortly after, to Variety, Will Smith himself. The actor shunned the Oscars press room after receiving his trophy.
Some celebrities, however, have given their support to Will Smith. Former One Direction singer Liam Payne reacted to reporters: “I think whatever he did, he had the right to do it. »
The elected Democrat of Massachusetts Ayanna Pressley, also suffering from alopecia, thanked him in a tweet since deleted. “Bravo to all the husbands who defend their wives with alopecia in the face of ignorance and everyday insults ,” she wrote. Will Smith was also defended by actress Tiffany Haddish: “That’s what your husband is supposed to do, right? Protect you ,” she told People magazine.