“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 Smith
Whether out of a feeling of contrition or a need to salvage public perception, Will Smith has released a far superior apology to Chris Rock and others for the physical assault that occurred at the Oscars. The apology was posted to his Instagram account and is provided below:
http://www.instagram.com/p/CbqmaY1p7Pz/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=0bc71286-97e7-4669-9ff6-c2fc76ccbd0c
The apology is a bit in contrast to Will Smith’s acceptance speech when he won the award for best actor less than an hour after striking Chris Rock:
Now we wait to see how all of this unfolds in regards to Smith’s career. Clearly, with the apology, the position some held that Smith was justified is less viable. Perhaps his publicists also realized that a reversal was necessary. Maybe Smith himself realized that hitting a comedian who may not have known about a medical condition is a step too far. However this came to be, it does seem to be a step in the right direction for all. Now let’s hope that there are no incidents in which audience members feel emboldened to physically confront comedians in the future as a result of this.
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