Will Smith sat down with Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show” Monday and spoke about slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars in March 2021, but instead of owning up to his actions and taking responsibility for what he did, he listed off a series of excuses.
Noah was such a pushover that he not only allowed, but also encouraged, Smith’s pity party to continue for several minutes. He fed right into Smith’s numerous excuses about why he walked onto the stage at a classy event and slapped a fellow star.
Rather than putting effort into restoring his public image, Smith whined about the stresses and traumas he says were responsible for his actions. Someone pull out a violin for this sob story — Smith is putting on another show.
“That was a horrific night, as you can imagine. You know, there’s many nuances and complexities to it,” Smith said, speaking about the moment he “lost it.”
“But at the end of the day … I lost it, you know … I guess what I would say — you just never know what somebody’s going through,” Smith said.
Then he unleashed a big list of reasons why someone may act out, seemingly giving excuses not only for his aggressive behavior, but also apparently for violence in general.
“You know, in the audience right now, you’re sitting next to strangers, and somebody’s mother died last week, somebody’s child is sick, somebody just lost their job, somebody just found out their spouse cheated, you know, it’s like there’s all these things and they’re strangers and you just don’t know what’s going on with people,” Smith said.
He’s right. Life is tough, and we’re all going through something. Everyone should stand up and slap out the first person who makes them mad today, because it seems Smith would be fine with that approach. (RELATED: Will Smith Reveals His ‘Biggest Concern’ For First Film Since Oscar Slap)
“I was going through something that night, and not that that justifies my behavior at all,” Smith said. If he truly believed that, he’d man up and own this, but instead, he kept whining.
In the spirit of continuing his campaign of excuses, Smith went on to blame his allegedly abusive childhood home for his actions in March. “You know, 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 concluded. Perhaps if he genuinely felt badly for what he did, owned it, apologized properly and used his public platform to demonstrate growth, he would be someone different.
For the moment all he is, is full of excuses.