Leave your wife is the first step. She’s despicable

Man destroyed his life's work over a joke everyone would have forgotten in just a few seconds..

There is a difference between someone who is truly sorry and someone who is just trying to do damage control.

"Forgive me so my career stays perfect 😭"

The most despicable thing is that hundreds of people in that theatre gave him a standing ovation just a few minutes after it happened. And before the media and people “told” them how they were supposed to react. Just a bunch of hypocrites.

Literally me when my mom forces me to apologize to my siblings

Saying "I want to apologize" and saying "I'm sorry " are two different things

i dont think i can have the same respect for will again 💀

Interviewer didn't want to get slapped so they used a teleprompter.

He should’ve started with this line: “Now, this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down”

This wasn't an apology. This was a hostage video

Don't apologize to the public for what you did! Apologize to Chris for slapping him, to all the winners and presenters who got the spotlight taken away from them, to the academy for not leaving the room and making the most awkward scene in tv history, and to all of us for dragging us yet again into your personal issues.

He lost me when he apologized to his wife 😂

The reason he didn't apologise in his acceptance speech is because he was still under the impression that what he did was proper and heroic. The apology now is because it didn't turn out the way he'd hoped and there was a ton of backlash.

He didn't apologize that night, he accepted his award and didn't care.

His apology feels so tense with this almost underlying anger. He briefly apologized to Chris but then went on to apologize more in sincerity to others. But Chris is the one he punched. Will always seemed so wholesome and fun and smart to me. But now I see him as this scary person with a LOT of unsolved emotional issues. I’m sure he regrets what he did. But I’m guessing it’s mostly because it messed with his career. Hope you get real help, Will. This is a time to grow emotionally.

If I were Chris Rock, I'd say to Will: "Keep my name out your fx*king mouth!!!"

Man he still covering for her, like he didn’t laugh at the joke.

Here, Will, lemme help you out: I won't ask Chris' forgiveness, because I don't deserve it. Maybe one day when I've forgiven myself I will ask it. I just want to say that I'm sorry. Not as an apology, but as me regretting my actions. There does come a time in a man's life when he must protect the ones he loves, but not from a comedian doing his trade. For those saying I've humiliated Chris I want to say: no, he took it like a champ and came up on top. In that situation he was the hero and I was the villain. I did not humiliate him, but I did manage to humiliate myself. I worked so hard, put so much effort into my acting for years and I feel like it's all been undone by 20 seconds of rage. All that intellect I had to put into my acting methods and I was overcome by such a base instinct as to hurt another human being by following a misguided sense of righteousness. This is not the example I want to show my kids. For all the people out there on my side over this situation, I like to think that in the past I have shown examples of being a role model, but this was not one of them. Follow me for whatever else, but not for this. Not for my lowest point. Thank you for listening. That ought to have done it, Will. But to say stuff like this you have to genuinely be sorry.

I have no respect for him. He’ll let his wife have sex with a guy who’s practically the age of his son, but a GI Jane joke is where he draws the line? What a “man”. What a messed up marriage.

Will: "sorry to my family for the heat that I brought for all of us" Jaden after the slap: "thats how we do it, lets go dad"

This was the most self-centered and self-serving apology ever.

My mom always said you can be nice or kind to people thousands of times, but one mistake is that people will remember that moment forever.

He started off great, then by halfway through he's back to talking about himself indulgently again. He just can't get over himself.

He yelled at Kris “….KEEP MY WIFE’S NAME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH….” but he says it had nothing to do with his wife.

Will smith just apologizes to Chris Rock. But he said "I'm sorry" to his own family. It's just to save his career. It wasn't authentic.

That joke would have been forgotten in a matter of seconds, but that slap would be remembered forever

He "apologised" to Chris and said "sorry" to his family and the very definition of saying "sorry" is heartfelt but the definition of saying "I apologise" is merely admitting wrong doing. He is distancing himself from saying sorry because it sticks in his throat.

For someone who won an Oscar, his acting here was terrible.

It takes a lifetime to build a reputation, but just a few seconds to destroy it. I always try to keep that in mind every day.

Obviously reading a script. He’s not sorry 😂

A "I apologize to you..." to Chris vs "Im sorry Babe..." to his wife. While both apologies, they sounded sooo different

He should just sing “Imagine” and call it a day. That always works.

Will Smith truly is a KZfaqr. He made a terrible apology video where he walked in, sat down, and sighed.

In my opinion, the only right move would've been to stand up before the end of the night, give a short apology with the promise of a statement the next day, and remove yourself from the Oscars that night out of common sense. He stole the prestige that he earned, from himself, by accepting the award without really talking about what happened.

"I thought that it was appropriate since he made a joke Jada didn't like, and only in the backlash did my PR team and lawyers advise that I say I realize I was wrong. I would like to solidify this rehearsed statement by completely ignoring Chris' emotions and *telling him* that we can be friends again if he let's it go" Fixed his response for yall.

Imagine when he stopped talking, he walked towards the camera and slapped it to the ground 😂

I am more than confident to affirm that this “apology speech“ was written by his boss, sorry, i meant wife.

Ehhh...fuck it! There is enough going on in the world, i forgive you Will. Now lets talk Wild Wild West 2 that no one is asking for!

This feels like more of asking for forgiveness to himself than an apology to Chris. "There is no part of me that thinks that is a way to behave" is just not a correct way to contextualize your actions. You, in fact, DID act that way and that is just a way of repressing your anger until it resurfaces again. Will is only saying that line because he felt guilt from the backlash he received after the fact, nothing more and nothing less. Until he stops apologizing to Jada in the same breath and understand where that's where his anger stems from, it will all be hallow words and lip service.

You don’t need to apologize to Jada she was laughing after you slapped Chris.

Chris rock acted with so much dignity and restraint. I have never been a fan of him, but that moment earned a lot of respect and he deserves the support from everyone. He was shamed Infront of the world and he held it together and acted with complete professionalism it speaks volumes about Chris's character. With Will nobody expected him to act the way he did. I still can't believe it, he was the cocky but nice guy of Hollywood. This apology doesn't feel sincere, and it's very late. Despite that fact, I wouldn't want this to completely hamper his career he is a talented man.

It's cool to see he's taking more daring roles and not always playing the good guy.

If Mike Tyson was hosting would you have slapped him. I'm guessing not.

He is apologizing more to the fans and the people of the award show than he has to Chris. I can hear more emotion and his voice when he apologized to Chris's mom and to his fans, but the actual apology to Chris felt so robotic and bullet point and him borderline down playing or dismissive of his own actions that I don't think he really means it at all and I understand Chris not wanting to reach out to him.

After being a Will Smith fan for decades, I can honestly say that none of that felt real. The “Sorry Babe” was probably the only bit that felt real. He’s still under her control. Without question, Jada has got to go for him to really be himself again.

Chris’s slap back hit 10X harder than Wills 😭😂

Will didn’t say “I’m sorry” when you say the word apologize, that’s just the definition of saying I’m sorry

"I'm here when you're ready to talk..." delivered like a parent that's disappointed and not someone seeking forgiveness. What a clown.

He wasn’t mad at the joke he got caught laughing and tried to redeem himself

Here is an example of when someone loses everything in a second. This guy is finished

When someone apologizes and gives a long speech it kinda makes the apology disingenuous

He was in a "fog" but apologized to the Academy. 🙄

Sad, that he still hasn't figured it out. This video is not a sincere apology. It's putting the ball in Chris' court, so he (Will) can look like the victim in a horrible situation that he created all on his own. Disrespected? It was a joke, and a pretty mild one at that! Being coddled for decades, he doesn't seem to know what real disrespect is. It wasn't that joke.

By "friends again " he literally means "hopefully down the road you will manage to stomach my movies again".

If will was really sorry he would donate 1 million dollars to my bank account.

One of the reasons I don’t believe this apology is that Will’s son reacted immediately on social media, in real time, with something to the effect that - This is how we Smiths get it done. If that’s what his son thought/thinks, then that was probably the ethos in the home. So - the “There is no part of me…” part of apology rings hollow. If everyone had back slapped Will and thumbs upped him after the slap about the slap (not the Oscar) he’d be going along his merry way now. This is a big fat “I’m sorry ‘cause I got caught” moment.

Ruined his career and will never be looked at the same. He had so many loyal fans and kids that looked up to him including myself growing up. I hope someone is keeping an eye on him.

The fact that will Smith thought it was completely fine to walk up there and then commit violence is not ok

Slapping someone isn’t that “complex” will. You’re like a tyrant king that couldn’t handle the court jester” the people never respect that kind of king.

He’s starting to even sound like his wife. They have the same gestures whenever they speak. He gets it from her 100%

Just shows you how destructive narcissism really can be...

Violence and assault to shut somebody up??? I no longer wonder why his kids never really smile. This is what we saw, what do we not see? And also, it was not a slap, you struck someone, with force. 😢😢😢

when he said "it's apologisin' time" i felt that

The whole academy should apologized for giving will a standing ovation after the slap

It's not up to us to show mercy for this man. Chris took the blow, let him decide and we all stand behind his decision.

"I'm here when you're ready to talk" sounds like "Chris, when you're ready let's talk about your mistakes."

"I wanna apologise...." Ok .. let's hear it.. "That was it.. I wanna apologise "

Will said “Ima get this apology out before August hits…” Jada “August been hit…”

The time to apologize would've been during the acceptance speech when he could've said it directly to Chris' face or at least the following day. He was so smug about it instead...and Chris doesn't have to take your calls, he can do so at his leisure as you did with this apology.

How could such a convincing actor give such an unconvincing apology??

He deserves a second chance. Everyone has mistakes and regrets it.

This apology was long overdue. I think the damage he's done is permanent. It's amazing how you can build a resume like he has and destroy it all in one night over a joke you were laughing at.

This looks very staged and insincere imo. You can even tell by the way Will is reading off the questions that this is something his team pressed for him to do to save his public perception. If he was truly remorseful for what he did he would have apologized to Chris after accepting his Oscar. Since he didn’t do that, he should have at least had a serious interview VERY SOON after the incident with some journalist where he’d be asked challenging questions about it. He could have used that hypothetical moment to apologize. Instead, he had his publicist write an apology for him to post on Instagram, and then waited a few months to release a staged “apology” video like this. That Oscar slap really exposed a lot of Will Smith’s true colors he was able to hide from the public eye for so many years.

This is months later, but unpopular take; Will was blinded by anger, as he said in the beginning it was all fuzzy. I do believe he shouldn't have handled that in THAT moment in that way, but he was blinded by the rage. I've seen people get blinded by rage before, and its scary. They don't even realize the aftereffects at that moment, they just feel like they need to do something. (But I will say this apology seems kind of scripted tho)

Wearing a personalised baseball cap whilst doing this is a low key flex.

Well that Fog he talks of, lasted all the way through an Afterparty. He only regrets the consequences to his career. I’m just not buying it.

my mother once told me "When someone bullies you, you have three options, Be worst then them, Be the same as them or be better then them. The world is not about you and your feelings Will, You do not get to decide what is right and wrong here."

1 year later and I’m still wondering what “understanding the nuances and the complexities of what happened at that moment” means

This is damage control, not an apology

Got to give it to him to be advertising his own water brand during this "heartfelt' apology..... Legend

This man has everything in the world except peace.

Bro was literally promoting his hat and his water

This was worse that travis Scott's apology video.

Chris Rock owes Will Smith absolutely nothing. He doesn’t have to talk to Will Smith ever. Will Smith’s words cannot fix this mess.

In the 5 months since this has happened more than one comedian has had someone rush the stage and try to attack them. His apology means nothing when his actions have endangered every stand up comic

As a man, it definitely matters what woman you choose to marry

I wanna hear him apologize for saying “love will make you do crazy things” as an excuse.

If I showed this to a person who never heard of Will Smith they would never believe me that he was a really good actor. I don't think I've ever seen a worse apology video. This is like what happens when you make a child apologize for something he clearly doesn't feel sorry for.

I can literally see the PR director‘s instructions floating all over this video… Well shot. Well produced. Well edited. Well writen. Really well done. And therefore really inauthentic.

banned from Oscar for 10 years , you deserve this . That slap is what you are , apology is just a marketing decision .

My opinion on what happened that night was family issues brought out by his pent-up anger. I've seen this happen with people who take out their frustrations on the wrong person. I think he honestly is sorry and remorseful, but once the damage is done, it can be healed but not erased. He can apologize to his wife as much as she makes him, but I feel a big part of what he was holding onto was because of her.

I can never take this man seriously again. Absolute clown move, the actions of a toddler. For a _comedian_ to hit someone over a joke, _words,_ that he laughed at at first, I have to wonder what's going on these days. He needs to get over Jada, she isn't the one for anybody. Except maybe Tupac.

Being rich and famous can drive you insane. Especially when you're dating someone so malevolent.

I wish Will Smith had the strength to never do such a horrible thing on such a big stage... I just feel quite bad to see him in such a difficult stance. He used to be kind of my role model.

how do you ruin your life winning the best actor award for the first tiem in your career

He found it very easy to say, "I'm sorry babe," to Jada but for Chris he says, "I apologize."

Will Smith coming on camera to apologize, then expressing how much the slap hurt HIMSELF is very telling.

If he said "Chris, what I did was disgusting, despicable and unprofessional, and I am genuinely sorry for hurting you and others." instead of just "I apologize to you.." he would still earn my respect because it would have sounded more authentic.

This deserve an oscar! Cruel heart never be good. RIP Will smith carrier. Nobody accepts violence in 21 century