A new interview with Will Smith recently aired where the award-winning actor got candid about his family and childhood.
Season 4 of Netflix’s “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman” and Will Smith officially dropped on Friday. While many were also hoping that the “King Richard” star would talk about the infamous Chris Rock Oscars slap, fans were in for a big disappointment after realizing the episode was filmed before March 2022 when Smith socked the host at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Now, during the Netflix show, Smith touched upon his recent memoir, “Will,” speaking about the rough relationship between his father and mother. “The first line of the first chapter is, ‘I’ve always thought of myself as a coward,” Smith explained to Letterman. “When I was nine years old, I saw my father beat up my mother, and I didn’t do anything. And that just left a traumatic impression of myself as a coward.” He continued, “Life is so exciting to me right now, because I can reach people differently than I’ve ever been able to reach people, largely because of my pain,” he said. “I’m really ready to dive into my art in a way that I think will be hopefully fulfilling for me and helpful for the human family.”
Speaking further about protecting his family, Smith explained what he realized: “You can’t protect your family, right?” the father of three said. “That’s not real. Protection and safety is an illusion. You have to learn to live with the reality that any moment, anything can be gone in one second.” He added, “So with that reality, how can you be here? And how can you be joyful and be here?”
This of course was not the first time Will Smith opened up about feeling like a coward. Excerpts from his book were shared last year where he wrote that being made to feel like a coward was “my most violent trigger.” He called his father, Willard Smith Sr, a ‘violent alcoholic’ and said that he considered suicide because of the shame at not standing up to him.
Aside from this, it’s unclear when Will Smith will speak our on Oscars slap moment. Since the wild showdown, apologized several times and has even resigned as a member of the academy. One of his apologies read,
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally,” Smith wrote. “I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
Will Snith has also not personally apologized to Chris Rock.
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