Will Smith has issued an apology for slapping Chris Rock during the Academy Awards on Sunday.
During the Oscars telecast, Chris made a joke referring to Jada Pinkett Smith's baldness, to which her husband Will walked on stage and slapped him and warned him to never speak about his wife again.
Will apologised to the Academy and his fellow nominees for his behaviour during his Best Actor acceptance speech later in the evening. On Monday night, he followed it up with a statement on Instagram in which he admitted he "deeply regret(s)" his "unacceptable and inexcusable" reaction to the joke.
"Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable," he began. "Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally."
After failing to apologise to the comedian in his speech, Will made sure to do so in his social media statement.
"I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong," he added. "I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness."
He once again apologised to the Academy as well as the producers of the show, all of the guests and "everyone watching around the world" for his behaviour and acknowledged how the slap "stained" a celebratory night for his film King Richard and Serena and Venus Williams' family, who are the subjects of the biopic.
"I would like to apologize to the Williams Family and my King Richard Family. I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us," he concluded. "I am a work in progress. Sincerely, Will."
Representatives for the Academy, which organises the Oscars, announced on Monday that they were conducting a formal review of the incident.
