“I also feel that I’ve been in a position where I’ve been under a lot of pressure, and I’ve made a tremendous amount of mistakes,” the tennis star says
Serena Williams addressed Will Smith’s infamous slap of Chris Rock at the Oscars — where Smith was nominated (and won) for his role in King Richard, about Williams’ father — for the first time in a new interview with CBS Mornings.
Speaking to Gayle King about the instantly viral moment that got Smith a 10-year ban from the Academy Awards, Williams said, “I thought [King Richard] was such an incredible film, and I feel that there was an incredible film after that with Questlove that kinda was overshadowed,” noting how Summer of Soul’s Best Documentary win was seemingly lost in the moment that proceeded the confrontation between Smith and Rock.
“But, I also feel that I’ve been in a position where I’ve been under a lot of pressure, and I’ve made a tremendous amount of mistakes. And I’m the kind of person that’s like, ‘I’ve been there. I’ve made a mistake. It’s not the end of the world,’” Williams added.
“We’re all imperfect, and we’re all human, and let’s just be kind to each other, and that’s often forgotten a lot.”
After many apologies in the aftermath of Slapgate, Smith discussed the “horrific night” again in November during an appearance on The Daily Show. “There’s many nuances and complexities to it. But at the end of the day, I just — I lost it, you know?” Smith said.
“I was going through something that night, you know? Not that that justifies my behavior at all. 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 is not who I want to be.”