Will Smith feels the Oscar slap controversy may hurt his new film: I completely understand

ctor Will Smith, while promoting his upcoming film Emancipation, has said that he would “absolutely respect” the audiences if they aren’t ready to watch him on screen after the Oscar slap incident from March this year.

In conversation with Fox 5, Will said, “I completely understand if someone is not ready. I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready.” The controversy in question involved Will walking onstage at the 94th Academy Awards ceremony and slapping the host, comedian Chris Rock, who had made a joke about Will’s wife, actor Jada Pinkett Smith and her alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss.

In the recent interview, Will expressed hope that his actions will not jeopardise the work and effort put in by the crew of his upcoming film. “The only discomfort my heart has is that so many people have done spectacular work on this film. My deepest concern is my team — Antoine (Fuqua, director) has done what I think is the greatest work of his entire career... I definitely lose a couple winks of sleep every night thinking that I could have potentially penalised my team, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that everyone gets seen in the light that they deserve.”

After the slap controversy, Will went on to win the Best Actor award for his role in King

Richard (2021). Subsequently, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences banned the actor from attending the Oscars for 10 years for “unacceptable and harmful behaviour”. He later posted an almost six-minute long video on social media, apologising to Chris and saying he was “extremely remorseful” for the incident.

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK