Richards William, the father of superstars tennis players Serena and Venus Williams, said it is time to forgive American actor Will Smith for the famous slap at the Oscars barely one year ago.
The 81-year-old said he saw nothing wrong with the slap and didn’t feel sorry for its recipient, Rock, adding that it was normal to get hit sometimes.
“I think he has done the best thing he needed to do, but I would never be disgusted with Mr Smith. Matter of fact, I appreciate Mr Smith,” Williams told Good Morning Britain. He insisted that there was nothing wrong with what happened at the Oscars.
Last year, at the Oscar awards, Actor Will Smith got off his seat to strike Chris Rock after the comedian compared his wife, Jada Pinkett, to a movie character, “G.I. Jane,” saying she was bald due to alopecia.
Williams said it was time for everyone to forgive the actor even if his act still hurt others, including Rock.
“It’s time for everyone to forgive Will Smith,” Williams continued. “You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows. Yes, it happened, I got smacked like a year ago.”
Will Smith’s frequent apologies
The 54-year-old has used several means to apologise for the act. In an interview with Trevor Noah last year, Mr Smith said he was through something at the time, but it was not a justification for his action.
“ I was going through something that night. And not that that justifies my behaviour at all,” Smith said.”You’re asking what did I learn and it’s that we just got to be nice to each other, man. It’s hard. And I guess the thing that was most painful for me is that I took my hard and made it hard for other people.”
“I understand how shocking that was for people, man. … That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time. But I understand the pain,” Smith added.
A day after the incident, the actor issued an apology to everyone involved, including the Oscars Academy and Chris Rock.
“I deeply regret that my behaviour has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us,” Smith said.
Mr Smith had also apologised to Mr Richard Williams, who was at the event that night. However, Rock had been quiet about the incident until last week when he cracked a joke out of it.
Rock jokingly talks about the slap after one year
During a Netflix live-streamed special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, the comedian said the slap still hurts, but he took it like (former Filipino boxer) Pacquiao.”
“People were like, ‘did it hurt?’ It still hurts. I got Summertime ringing in my ears. But I’m not a victim baby, you’ll never see me on Oprah crying,” Chris Rock said.
“You know what people say, they always say ‘words hurt. That’s what they say,” Rock continued. “You’ve got to watch what you say because words hurt, you know.”
“Anybody that says words hurt has never been punched in the face,” he added.
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