It seems that the drama surrounding Will Smith and Chris Rock is still making headlines.
Back in March, Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith and her hair loss condition, known as alopecia. Smith stormed the stage and slapped Rock before resuming his seat and cursing him out.
The “King Richard” actor then took the stage a short while later to accept his Best Actor Oscar. It wasn’t until about a week ago that the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” finally posted an apology video to Rock and his fans.
Although fans remain divided on his apology – or if he even needed to apologize – if his daughter, Willow Smith, is standing by her dad.
Willow Smith Says She Loves Her Family ‘For All Their Humanness’
In a new interview with Billboard published on Friday, Willow addressed the Oscars slap and her relationship with her father. “I see my whole family as being human, and I love and accept them for all their humanness,” she said.
“Because of the position that we’re in, our humanness sometimes isn’t accepted, and we’re expected to act in a way that isn’t conducive to a healthy human life and isn’t conducive to being honest,” she continued.
She added that the constant media coverage surrounding the incident didn’t “rock me as much as my own internal demons.”
It seems that the “Independence Day” actor might still be fighting his own internal demons in the five-minute apology video that he posted to Instagram, revealing that Chris Rock has yet to forgive him for the incident.
Chris Rock Has Reportedly ‘Moved On’ From The Oscars Incident
A few days after the apology video surfaced, one insider told PEOPLE that Rock has “moved on” from the Oscars slap and wants to put the entire incident behind him.
“Chris doesn’t need to talk,” the source said. “This is clearly something that bothers Will more than Chris.” The insider added, “Will needs to deal with his issues,” but assured fans that “Chris is fine.”
A separate source in the industry said that it’s a good sign that Rock has been making jokes about what happened on stage, which might be his way of dealing with the shocking incident. Rock originally made a joke about Will Smith on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, about a week before the apology video was posted, and then made another joke a few hours after the video went live during a stand-up routine on his Ego Death World Tour in Atlanta.
As CNN reported, during Rock’s performance in Atlanta, he joked, “Yeah, that s— hurt, motherf—ker, but I shook that s— off and went to work the next day.” Rock also said that he is “not a victim,” adding, “I don’t go to the hospital for a papercut.”
“Everybody is trying to be a f—ing victim. If everybody claims to be a victim, then nobody will hear the real victims,” Rock said during his show. “Even me getting smacked by Suge Smith … I went to work the next day, I got kids.”
He later made the same joke that he had made back in NYC, saying, “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face.”
“The fact that he is making jokes about it already is a good thing,” the insider alleged. “That means he is assessing it. But the stress of the slap and the aftermath has not taken over his life. Quite the opposite.”
Will Smith Admits That Chris Rock Is ‘Not Ready To Talk’ To Him Yet
During his apology video, Will Smith revealed the status of his friendship with Chris Rock.
“I reached out to Chris, and the message that came back is he’s not ready to talk, but when he is, he will reach out,” he said before addressing Chris directly. “So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
The “Men in Black” actor also apologized to Rock’s family, mother, and brother, Tony Rock, who had appeared in the 2007 Smith-created sitcom “All of Us.” In the apology video, Smith recalled, “We had a great relationship,” adding, “Tony Rock was my man and this is probably irreparable.”
Smith’s full apology video can be seen here.