After nearly a year since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, Serena Williams finally breaks her silence about the entire incident.
During an interview with Gayle King, the grand slam champion started out by talking about how the situation was unfortunate for musician Questlove, who won an award right after comedian and presenter Chris Rock was slapped by Smith.
“I thought it was such an incredible film, and I feel that there was an incredible film after that with Questlove that kind of was overshadowed,” she said. “But I also feel that I’ve been in a position where I’ve been under a lot of pressure and 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. So, that’s often forgotten a lot.” Will Smith won the academy award for Best Actor for his role as Richard Williams in the film King Richard.
Since slapping Chris Rock, Smith has been banned from the award show for 10 years, however, his work can still be nominated at the Academy for voters to choose from.