Celebrities
Greg Evans
Jul 30, 2022
Will Smith/YouTube
Months after the slap that shocked the world, Will Smith has finally made a public apology to Chris Rock after he struck him in the face at the Oscars however people aren't happy about one element of the actor's video.
Cast your mind back to the end of March and you'll probably recall the moment Smith walked on stage at the Oscars while Rock was trying to introduce the next award and slapped the comedian for making a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia.
You don't need us to tell you but the fallout was massive and even though he won the Best Actor award just moments later (he's since been banned from the Oscars for 10 years) it has taken Smith four months to offer a formal and public apology to Rock.
In a clip released on YouTube, the 53-year-old actor said: "It’s all fuzzy. I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is he’s not ready to talk and when he is, he will reach out. There’s no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults."
"No. It’s like, you know, I made a choice on my own, from my own experiences, from my history with Chris. Jada had nothing to do with it. I’m sorry, babe. I wanna say sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I brought on all of us."
Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter
However, eagle-eyed viewers of the video have noticed something off about it. Although the apology is sincere people couldn't help but have their eyes drawn toward the bottle of water on the table next to Smith.
This wasn't any old bottle of water this was Just Water, a company founded by the Fresh Prince star's son Jaden when he was just 12 years old. Although Just Water is a noble cause, helping to create cheaper water filtration systems and can be used in poorer nations and areas people felt this wasn't the time or place for such a promotion.
\u201cNEXT LEVEL UNAWARE: Will Smith promotes his son's water brand in his apology video. Earlier today, he posted a video apologizing for the Chris Rock incident with his son's water brand 'Just Water' on the table next to him.\u201d— Def Noodles (@Def Noodles) 1659139708
\u201cWill Smith advertising his own bottled water company during his apology video makes it entirely disingenuous.\n\n#WillSmith\u201d— Luke (@Luke) 1659107795
\u201cThe funniest part about Will Smith\u2019s apology video to Chris Rock and his family was that it was sponsored by Jaden\u2019s Boxed Water company. How you gone have product placement in an apology? Rich niggas move different lmao\u201d— Atlanta Is Resilient (@Atlanta Is Resilient) 1659138140
\u201cWill Smith apologizing with his sons water bottle 2 ft away from him is very authentic and 2022\u201d— gj (@gj) 1659133812
Previous to this Rock also spoke about the incident during a stand-up set on July 24th where he said: "Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face. Yeah, that s*** hurt, motherf***er. … But I shook that s*** off and went to work the next day … I don't go to the hospital for a paper cut."
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
Top 100
The Conversation (0)
x