Willow Smith breaks silence on Will Smith’s infamous Oscars slap: ‘Our humanness isn’t accepted’
Willow Smith and, right, father Will slaps Chris Rock at the Oscars (Getty)
Willow Smith has finally broken her silence her father Will Smith’s notorious Oscars slap.
Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Academy Awards in March, after the comedian made an insensitive joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow’s mother, and her alopecia.
It sparked a major media storm, with Smith later banned from the Oscars for 10 years, but the family has for the most part remained silent on the incident.
However, Willow has now addressed the slap in a new interview with Billboard, arguing that the famous family is held to artificially high standards.
“[The slap] didn’t rock me as much as my own internal demons,” Willow said.
“I see my whole family as being human, and I love and accept them for all their humanness.
“Because of the position that we’re in, our humanness sometimes isn’t accepted, and we’re expected to act in a way that isn’t conducive to a healthy human life and isn’t conducive to being honest.”
Willow’s words comes days after her father Will returned to social media with a statement on the incident.
In a near-six-minute video uploaded to his Instagram and YouTube, Will explained how the scandal had impacted him.
“It hurts me psychologically and emotionally to know that I didn’t live up to people’s image and impression of me,” he said.
“The work I’m trying to do is that I’m deeply remorseful and I’m trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself. I’m human. I made a mistake and I’m trying not to think of myself as a piece of s**t.”
“I’ve reached out to Chris,” he added in the video. “And the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk and, when he is, he will reach out. So, I will say to you, Chris, I apologise to you. My behaviour was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
He also apologised to other Academy Award winners and nominees for “tarnishing” their night, and said he was sorry for “the heat” he had brought on his family.
