Serena Williams advocates for kindness and forgiveness in regard to Will Smith’s Oscar slap
"We’re all imperfect, and we’re all human," Serena Williams says of the infamous Oscar slap
Aux News Serena
Nearly a year after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, Serena Williams offers a graceful reflection on the incident. Although she says the altercation “overshadowed” the honors received by not one, but two films, Williams ultimately sides with compassion over judgment.
“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,” she tells Gayle King on CBS Mornings.
Prior to Rock spouting off jokes about Jada Pinkett Smith’s alopecia, the comedian took the stage to announce the winner for Best Documentary Feature. Before the winner could be announced, Smith took the stage and slapped Rock, shouting, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” After a few minutes, Questlove was announced as the winner for Summer Of Soul, but audiences were still reeling from what would become known as “The Slap.”
Serena and her sister Venus were both in attendance at the ceremony last year to celebrate the nominations earned by King Richard, which tells the story of their path to tennis greatness under the guidance of their father, Richard Williams. Shortly after slapping Rock, Smith won the Oscar for his lead performance in King Richard. In the weeks following the televised altercation, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted to ban Smith from attending the ceremony for the next ten years.
“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,” Williams continues. “I’m the kind of person that’s 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. So, that’s often forgotten a lot,” she concludes.
37 Comments
DON’T TONE-POLICE WOC!!!!! or something
How about no. Chris Rock was argubly being an ass but that doesn’t give one the right to do anything physical. Its also been a year, the man still makes movies. He’s doing a lot better then the other people who are banned from the Oscars, those people are convicted sex criminals like Weinstein and Cosby.
Cosby should’ve been banned for Leonard Part VI
The worst coke commercial ever that somehow kept getting worse.
Yeah, if Will Smith had just mouthed off at Chris, then he would have held the moral high ground and Chris would be the one who ended up looking like a dick.
Why does anyone on earth care what famously unable to control her anger Serena Williams thinks about this?
I don’t know . . . “so brave” . . . I guess?
hey eat shit
You’re a mentally ill old woman who will die relatively soon.
eat shit and die
No. I’m sure you’re looking forward to another day spent all alone though huh?
hey eat shit
Seeing someone like you deep in the weeds of mental illness is truly sad. You must be so scared and alone.
No.
hey eat shit
Not much snark in this one, huh?
Funny, right?
Articles about Serena Williams rarely do.
Nope. And I find it weird that this is coming from her. Williams was a pro athlete who dominated for decades, with mostly good sportsmanship, and took a very long time to realize that she had no more gas in the tank to win any more titles. Maybe she sees an analogy there in defending another privilege celebrity, Will Smith. But he ruined an awards ceremony. He fucking took a giant shit on it. And I wish this nation had just a fraction of the same outrage for Donald Trump, who giant shit on all of us.
“We’re all imperfect, and we’re all human, and let’s just be kind to each other. So, that’s often forgotten a lot,” she concludes.”Bbbbut the internet tells me that anyone who does one wrong thing is entirely evil and should at least be shunned by all of society if not shot into space to totally remove them from Earth altogether?
This! A thousand times this! I had to deal with a disinformation ugly campaign publicly and no matter how many people tell you to ignore it or not worry, it eats away at you. I know this is a different situation than Smiths but still, we all make mistakes, just not as publicly as this.
On the internet everything is black and white and SERIOUS BUSINESS!As someone who has been online since ‘93, I basically see a whole bunch of newbs who are still not really aware that you have to force yourself to think of the person you’re typing to/about as an actual person. Your brain doesn’t see it that way naturally and it takes quite a bit of actual brain training for most people to act in a civilized manner to people who are on the other side of a screen instead of face to face with them.
This.Moral purity and the never forgive, never forget shit is silly. I’ve been online nearly as long as you and I just don’t have it in me to be angry or spiteful anymore.Everyone fucks up. Nobody is perfect.
Be kind by doing things like… not assaulting people?Sounds like good advice to me!
Serena Williams, seen here explaining how when you rollin’ out the dough, just make sure you roll it slow. Because if you make the dough too quick, the bibby babka make you sick.
Serena Williams is a fierce defender of people who play her family!
If you’re not involved, forgiveness isn’t yours to grant.
If you’re on the internet, common sense is anathema.
Has Serena tried telling this to the parties involved?
It doesn’t matter if any of us forgive Rock or Smith (Will and Jada).
It only matters if they forgive each other.
Why would Chris Rock seek forgiveness from them?
Maybe he feels bad now.
Can’t control your feelings.
Lol so many white people are still in their feelings over this
Not sure why it’s hers to forgive. I know Serena Williams is a Literal Human Goddess We Don’t Deserve according to the internet, and I’m not blaming her for being a black celebrity and therefore getting asked about this, but I feel like someone else might be the person to ask about whether it’s time forgive Will Smith.Also “spouting off jokes about Jada Pinkett Smith’s alopecia,” don’t do this. I’ve yet to see an intelligent person defending Will Smith on this.
“I’ve yet to see an intelligent person defending Will Smith on this.”You must have missed the AV club’s year end roundtable about it so…
Sadly, I didn’t.
Ben Stein is too busy to defend Will Smith.