Was Will Smith's Apology a Slap in the Face? | Will Smith Apology Analysis

He exposed himself as the jerk that he is. I think what bothered me most about the whole slap thing was that smug little look on his face as he strutted back to his seat.

This guy just won an academy award for acting, so it's difficult to believe his sincerity.

I want him to answer why he was laughing at the joke if it made him that mad?! He literally went through all the emotions in 2 seconds and landed on being infuriated.

I love Dr. Grande’s sly sense of humor, delivered with a straight face!

I believe he is more sorry about his career going downward than the slap.

“She may have been sitting down.” Priceless.

Because he’s such a huge celebrity, I firmly believe he didn’t think there would be any fall out from his behavior due to his status and that people would commend his actions for ‘defending’ his wife. His career has definitely taken a blow. Part way through, he began smirking and smiling, this alone made the so called apology disingenuous.

Dr. what stood out in my mind that night, was the expression on Will's, face immediately, following the slap. When Will, turned away from Chris, did you catch it? The smirk, expression, of entitlement, and great, pride, for what he'd just done. To me, that moment, was more telling, than that slap itself. His mind, wasn't too foggy to receive his Award.🧠🏆🤣

I seen so much anger and rage in Will face it was horrific and how he yelled after he hit Rock was very disturbing 😳

Imagine getting upset at a joke but being fine with your wife sleeping with your son's friend...

"She may have been sitting down". Dr. Grande NEVER fails to incorporate hilarious unexpected digs and I freaking love it.

Says "I apologize" to Chris and Chris's mother, but says "I'm sorry" to his own family and friends. Interesting.

I think Will was being manipulative when he said 'disappointing people is my central trauma' because it sounded like a beauty pageant that says 'my biggest flaw is that I care too much', he was trying to portray himself as the good guy and hopefully save his career. If he cared about Chris Rock so much, he wouldn't have waited three months.

Chris is doing the right thing by moving on and not giving them his time. The way Chris handled that was admirable. He didn't escalate the situation or go along with the direction Will was trying to take things, just tried to find a way to make it funny (despite his head surely spinning from being struck) and tried to keep the show moving forward. What a professional.

This apology was mainly for Jada's benefit as most people know darn well why he did what he did and saw him laughing at the jokes until she gave him "the look". Anyone who has dealt with abusive female partner knows what "the look" means, and what will happen to you if you later at home if you don't do what is expected. The most telling thing was how Jada looked very smug and pleased after the slap, and not shocked or upset as would be normal.

I feel like there is one major contributing factor being ignored here - Jada. She is an abusive partner. That does not excuse the behaviour, but I believe that it does provide a better explanation and makes the action more forgivable. Unfortunately he is so heavily under her thumb that he can never really explain his behaviour through the lens of an abuse victim, because he does not see himself as one. I wish the public discourse would focus more on that, as I believe would be the case if we flipped all the genders.

“ She may have been sitting down.” This is the best dry delivery you have ever done! Just keeps getting better! Thank you Dr. Grande as it’s only just after 7 AM and I was laughing my ass off!

What is this late night treat? Nothing like listening to Dr. Grande speculate but never diagnose before bed!

I thought it was BS, designed only to make himself look like he is on the moral high ground while Rock is inferior for not 'reaching out' (puke!) in return. These kinds of apologies that implicitly create an obligation on the other party to respond are an arrogant display of dominance. We already see what Smith is. His actions showed us clearly. He has learned nothing, he is just continuing as before.

Here is a proper apology: "What I did was absolutely wrong and I apologize unreservedly to Chris Rock for my unjustified violence and subsequent behavior and to anyone else affected by what I did."