Will Smith addresses releasing new film so soon after Oscars slap: ‘It certainly has been a difficult few months’

Will Smith attends the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California
Will Smith has weighed in on Emancipation (Image: Angela Weiss / AFP/Getty)

Will Smith has responded to criticism over his new movie being launched so quickly after he slapped Chris Rock on the Academy Awards in March.

The 54-year-old stars as Peter in upcoming Apple TV+ flick Emancipation, which follows the journey of an enslaved man who escapes from a Louisiana plantation and joins the Union Military throughout the Civil Battle.

It marks his first undertaking to be launched because the controversy at this yr’s Oscars ceremony, when he stormed on stage to confront Chris Rock over a joke concerning spouse Jada Pinkett Smith.

He subsequently introduced his resignation from the Academy, whereas bosses confirmed he would serve a 10-year ban from all Oscars-related occasions.

Requested about some folks’s emotions that they might battle to look at the brand new movie so quickly after the incident, he informed Jake Hamilton on his Jake’s Takes YouTube Channel: ‘I really feel like that’s the kind of factor that you'd say earlier than you sit within the film theatre.

‘I feel the work that [director Antoine Fuqua] has finished, and all the artists concerned with this movie, I'd hope that the significance of the story and the significance of Peter rise above these emotions and feelings.’

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Will slapped Chris Rock on the Oscars earlier this yr (Image: Robyn Beck/AFP by way of Getty Photographs)

He described the interval because the Oscars as ‘troublesome’, however urged filmgoers to not ‘penalise’ the remainder of the solid and crew who've labored onerous on the undertaking.

He added: ‘It actually has been a troublesome previous couple of months. And I'd simply hope that these spectacular artists who've come collectively on this undertaking, I'd hope that they might not be penalised for just a few horrific moments of indiscretion on my half.’

In the meantime, Will even mirrored on his expertise engaged on the film, and the teachings he realized from his character.

‘It was attention-grabbing that the taking part in of Peter led into this previous couple of months of my life. There was a brand new concept that got here by way of, the flexibility to have an open coronary heart in hell, is the one strategy to be right here,’ he mentioned.

‘That's the big, religious lesson that I took away from Peter. It’s the lesson of all of our holy books. Can we've an open coronary heart in hell? For me, once I take a look at Peter and once I see people who've realized how to try this, that's the north star for me.

‘That’s the sound of the cannons that I’m following. I'll purify my coronary heart and purify my thoughts and purify my actions, to the purpose that I can sit comfortably with my coronary heart huge open in hell.’

is about to premiere in cinemas on December 2, earlier than touchdown on the streaming service on December 9.

In an emotional teaser, Will – who stars as Peter – might be seen being wheeled away in a cage as he's informed: ’You stroll the earth as a result of I allow you to. I’m your God now.’

‘Give because of God,’ he tells his household. ‘The Lord is with us. What can a mere man do to me?’

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