“Deeply Remorseful” Will Smith Addresses Chris Rock Oscars Slap

Will then clarified that he made the decision to get up and strike Chris on his own, moments after the comedian made a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith—who sat beside him in the audience.

“I made a choice on my own, from my own experiences, from my history with Chris,” Will said. “Jada had nothing to do with it.”

He went on to apologize to his wife and family—which includes kids Trey Smith, 29, Jaden Smith, 24, and Willow Smith, 21—for “the heat that I brought on all of us.”

Will, who resigned from the Academy and has been banned from the Oscars for 10 years following the incident, then addressed his fellow nominees. “You know, this is a community,” he said. “It’s like I won because you voted for me and it really breaks my heart to have stolen and tarnished your moment.”

“I can still see Questlove’s eyes,” Will said, referencing the musician who won the Academy Award for his documentary Summer of Soul directly after the slap. “You know, it happened on Questlove’s award and, you know, it’s like, I’m sorry, really, isn’t sufficient.”