CNN –
Will Smith spoke to Trevor Noah about the now-famous Oscar slap in March during an appearance that aired Monday night on “The Daily Show.”
While promoting her upcoming film “Emancipation,” Smith called it “a horrible night” and said she “lost it” when she stormed the stage and slapped host Chris Rock.
“And I guess what I would say, you never know what somebody’s going through,” Smith said. “I was going through something that night. Not that that excuses my behavior at all.”
Smith said the most painful thing for him was that his actions made it “difficult for other people.”
“And it’s like I got the idea where they say hurting people hurts people,” he said.
“This was anger that had been bottled up for a long time,” Smith said.
Noah noted how Smith had written in his memoir about growing up afraid of conflict, and the talk show host also pointed out the negative things that have been said about Smith and his family on the Internet.
“It was a lot,” Smith said in response. “He was the little boy who saw his father beat his mother, you know. It all came up at that time.”
Smith said that who he was at the time “wasn’t who I want to be.”
In July, Smith addressed the slap and issued a public apology on social media.
The Academy has sanctioned Smith by banning him from attending the Oscars for the next 10 years.