The words Will Smith didn’t need to say in his latest apology

Will Smith issued his most comprehensive apology yet today. One sentence in that apology shows we’ve blown his slap out of proportion.

COMMENT

Will Smith is one of the most famous faces on earth.

He is talented, witty and, whether he’s aware of it or not, a role model for so many.

That is what made his abrupt fall from grace at the Oscars so surprising, bordering on unbelievable.

We’re all used to the likeable larrikin we saw in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, or the agent in Men in Black, who made us laugh until we cried.

Not the rage-filled man who stormed on stage and struck comedian Chris Rock squarely in the face after Rock did what he was paid to do (try to make people laugh). Not the man who strode back to his seat and bellowed at Rock in front of millions of viewers.

We are all accustomed to seeing Will Smith play the likeable larrikin. Pictures: Getty

We didn’t like seeing Will Smith filled with rage. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

The fun loving Will Smith that we all love in the movies wouldn’t do that.

But the human Will, who is flawed and makes mistakes, would. And that is the Will with whom we should be able to empathise.

We have all made mistakes in our lives – some bigger and more public than others. We have done things we regret and can never take back.

For Smith, it was that brain explosion on stage, which has left him on the cusp of losing everything he has spent an entire career working so hard to build. It’s disappointed himself, his family and his fans. It has turned him into the villain on all the world's front pages.

Saying that Smith’s tears in his Best Actor speech, and multiple apologies in the days since, were not “genuine” because of a mistake he made in a moment of rage is not helpful.

We’ve all done things we regret. Granted, as regrets go, this is a big one. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

We have all been angry. In his case, the anger (not his response to it) was understandable. Rock had – knowingly or otherwise – mocked another person’s health. He had shamed and disrespected Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, in front of millions of viewers.

Everyone involved in the incident was a person of colour, in a nation where people of colour have historically been tormented and subjected to ridicule.

I am not absolving Smith for his actions. Violence is not, and never will be, the appropriate reaction to anything that is said, regardless of how mean or hurtful the words are.

Violence is not the appropriate reaction to anything that is said. Picture: Angela Weiss and Robyn Beck/AFP

And people have been hurt here. For Rock, the pain was physical. Other commentators might add the comedian’s wife, children, manager, or even the Academy itself into the equation. But half a sentence in Smith’s most recent statement today shows we have blown the damage he caused out of proportion.

“My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful and inexcusable,” Smith said. OK, that’s fair enough.

“The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home.”

The emphasis there is mine, and I highlight those words because they are ridiculous. In no way, shape or form did Smith’s actions harm the people attending the Oscars, or anyone watching at home.

Seventeen million people tuned in on Monday. They weren’t all victims. Smith shouldn’t need to pretend they were for his contrition to be considered genuine.

BREAKING: Will Smith resigns from Oscars’ Academy. New statement & pained mea culpa. 👇👇 pic.twitter.com/3wKSY4KCuI

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 1, 2022

We have all had to face the consequences of our mistakes in life. For Smith, that has meant resigning from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today, and releasing that comprehensive apology above.

The full consequences, however, have yet to be revealed.

He may be loaded, but that doesn’t make him bulletproof. Imagine being at the pinnacle of your career and losing the reputation you have worked so hard to build because you could not keep your cool in a single moment, on a night that should have been one of celebration.

No doubt the sincerity of his latest apology will be questioned. Did Smith himself write it, or his PR team? Either way, you wouldn’t want to be him at the moment, would you?

Would you want to be Will Smith right now? Picture: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP

So before you permanently condemn him for that rage-filled moment and, perhaps, his display of “toxic masculinity”, think about a mistake you have made in your life. Think of the shame you felt. And then imagine you made that mistake on live television, in front of millions, self-destructing with the entire world watching.

When you put yourself in Smith’s shoes, you might recognise that he deserves empathy as well as condemnation.

I think we should all take Denzel Washington’s advice on board: “At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.”