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'That's not who I want to be': Will Smith reflects on Oscars slap

Will Smith
Posted at 7:26 AM, Nov 29, 2022
and last updated 2022-11-29 10:26:33-05

Will Smith opened up about slapping Chris Rock during the Oscars earlier this year during his first late-night interview.

Rock had joked about Smith's wife's short hairstyle. Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss.

In an interview with Trevor Noah on "The Daily Show," Smith said he was "going through something that night.” He added that the moment he went onto the stage and slapped Rock was a culmination of bottled-up rage.

"At the end of the day, I lost it," Smith said.

Smith, who won an Oscar for Best Actor on the same night, fought back tears throughout the interview.

"That's not who I want to be," Smith said.

Smith previously apologized to Rock on Instagram, but this was his first late-night interview since the incident.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences banned Smith from attending the Oscars for 10 years as punishment for the slap.