Will Smith feels ‘brand new’ after putting Oscars slap controversy behind him

By Jenny Garnsworthy, PA

Actor Will Smith has described the work he has done on himself since slapping comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars as “brutal but beautiful”, or “brutiful”.

The film star and musician said the moment, televised around the world at the 2022 awards, made him take “a big, strong, honest look at myself”.

Appearing on 1Xtra, Smith told host Remi Burgz: “After the Oscars I, like, shut it down for a minute and really went into the internal work…

“All of a sudden, it was like there was a manhole cover over some unexplored areas, and like the manhole cover came off, and it was scary for a minute.

“Then all of a sudden all of these new thoughts, new energies and new creativity came through.

“So, I feel like I’m brand new.

“I feel like the greatest creative period of my life will be in the next, you know, five to 10 years.”

Smith, who has starred in blockbusters such as the Men In Black and Bad Boys franchises, stormed the stage at the 94th Academy Awards and hit Rock after he made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss.

Smith won the Oscar for best actor for his leading role in King Richard the same night.

Asked what it was like to make such a mistake in front of the world, Smith said: “For the first time in my career, having to deal with a level of disapproval that I’d never had to experience.

“It’s brutiful – it’s brutal but beautiful.

“The addiction to the approval of others that I had to dissolve, brutiful.”

The Academy Awards called Smith’s behaviour “unacceptable and harmful”, and banned him from the ceremony for a period of 10 years.

Smith released his first record in two decades earlier this year.

The album, Based On A True Story, also references the Oscars incident.