Will Smith told an interviewer that he ‘completely understands’ if people refuse to watch his new film Emancipation after his shocking Oscars slap in March, Media Take Out has learned.
Will, 54, sent shockwaves around the world when he slapped the dog doo doo out of comedian Chris Rock onstage, after Chris made an ill-timed joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett-Smith.
Now Will is speaking out about the backlash he’s faced since the on stage assault. Will told Fox 5’s Good Day DC he ‘respects’ if fans are not ready to see him onscreen.
He said: ‘I completely understand — if someone is not ready, I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready.
He said: ‘My deepest concern is my team – Antoine [Fuqua] has done what I think is the greatest work of his entire career.
‘The people on this team have done some of the best work of their entire careers, and my deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalize my team. At this point, that’s what I’m working for.’
Emancipation is a historical thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua, in which the Fresh Prince actor stars as an enslaved man named Peter who escapes from a Louisiana plantation and braves treacherous territory and slave hunters to make it up north to Union territory, where he is able to join the fight against the Confederacy.
