Serena Williams Breaks Silence on Will Smith’s Oscar Slap to DEFEND Him

Serena Williams has defended the shocking moment Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars nearly a year ago.

Speaking to Gayle King, 68, on CBS Mornings, the tennis star said everyone deserves forgiveness.

Serena said she sometimes made her own mistakes and reminded viewers that “we’re all imperfect and we’re all human”.

“Then King Richard had that moment at the Oscars, how did you feel about it?” Gayle asked the sports ace.

“I thought it was such an amazing movie, and I feel like there was an amazing movie after that with Questlove that got overshadowed,” Serena said.

“But I also feel like I’ve been in a position where I’ve been under a lot of pressure and made a lot of mistakes.

‘I’m the person who says, ‘I’ve been there, I made a mistake. This is not the end of the world. “We’re all imperfect and we’re all human and let’s just be nice to each other.

She finished: “So it’s often forgotten a lot.”

King Richard is the film that tells the story of Serena and Venus Williams and the mentorship of their father, Richard Williams.

Will portrays Richard in the film.

Will slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars in March last year, making international headlines.

Chris, who hosted the show, joked that Will’s wife Jada looked like “GI Jane” because of her bald head.

She had recently revealed that she suffered from alopecia.

Will stormed the stage and slapped Rock after he fumed, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.”

He went on to win Best Actor for his role in King Richard that night, but he didn’t specifically apologize to Chris.

After the incident, Will was seen partying the night away with his family at Vanity Fair’s Oscar party, dancing to his own song Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It as the crowd cheered.

Will has since been banned from the Oscars for 10 years for slapping comedian Chris, but will be allowed to keep his Best Actor award.

However, days later he apologized in an official statement saying his behavior was “unacceptable and inexcusable” and left him “embarrassed”.

“Violence in all its forms is toxic and destructive,” he wrote.

“My behavior at the Oscars last night was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.

“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of place and I was wrong. I’m embarrassed and my actions weren’t indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.

In November last year, Will spoke to Trevor Noah about the incident and said there was “rage” inside him that night at the Oscars.

He also added that when he returned home after the ceremony, his nine-year-old nephew was waiting and saw the slap, asking him, “Why did you hit that man, Uncle Will?”

Will then pulled out his tissues and looked at Noah jokingly, “Shit. Why are you trying to Oprah me?

He added: “It was a mess, you know. I don’t want to go overboard to give people more misunderstanding.

After discussing his new movie, Noah joked that they hadn’t seen him in a while, as Will began to talk about what he said was “an awful night, as you can imagine. “.

“There are a lot of nuances and complexities. But at the end of the day, I just…I lost it, you know?’ Will admitted.

“I was going through something that night, you know? Not that it justifies my behavior at all…’ he admitted.

‘It was a lot of things. He was the little boy who saw his father beat his mother, you know? It all just bubbled up then. That’s not who I want to be,” he said.

‘I left. It was a rage that had been bottled up for a very long time,’ Will said.