Serena Williams Looks Back On Will Smith's Oscars Slap That Eclipsed His Portrayal Of Her Father

Tennis legend Serena Williams has opened up about Will Smith's infamous Oscars controversy in a new interview. During the 94th annual Academy Awards, the "Wild Wild West" star stunned attendees and viewers at home when he slapped Chris Rock onstage. The shocking incident — which took place ahead of Smith's Best Actor win for "King Richard" — occurred after the comedian made an off comment about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head. A few years before the Oscars, the "Girls Trip" star cut her hair due to her battle with alopecia, per the Los Angeles Times. A month after the show, the "Bad Boys" actor received disciplinary action from The Academy, which banned him from future Oscar ceremonies, "in person or virtually," for 10 years, per Deadline.

Amid this outcome, Smith repeatedly apologized to Rock for the unfortunate incident. "Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable, and I'm here whenever you're ready to talk," he said in the YouTube video posted on July 2022. "There is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment. There's no part of me that thinks that's the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults." With the one-year anniversary of "The Slap" approaching, Williams has now shared her unfiltered thoughts on the incident with Gayle King. 

With the anniversary of Will Smith's shocking Oscars slap right around the corner, Serena Williams has opened up about the incident in an interview with CBS Mornings' Gayle King. When asked about her thoughts during the infamous moment, the Grand Slam champ stated: "I thought it was such an incredible film, and I feel that there was an incredible film after that with Questlove that kind of was overshadowed." The tense situation occurred right before Rock announced The Roots frontman as the winner of the Best Documentary category, per People.

While Williams admitted that "The Slap" caused a bit of distraction, she seemingly added some words of support for Smith. "But I also feel that I've been in a position where I've been under a lot of pressure and made a tremendous amount of mistakes," she explained. "I'm the kind of person that's just like, 'I've been there. I've made a mistake. It's not the end of the world.' We're all imperfect, and we're all human, and let's just be kind to each other."