Tyler Perry on Monday said that he was not comforting Will Smith after Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars but rather was “deescalating” the situation.
During an interview with Gayle King at the Tribeca Film Festival, Perry said “there is a difference between comforting and deescalating,” according to Deadline.
“I was there close up. I left early to go and check on Chris because it was wrong in no uncertain terms,” the actor added, according to Variety. “I made sure I said that to Will, and when we walked over to him, he was devastated. He couldn’t believe what happened.”
“I know that feeling, I’m getting chills thinking about it,” Perry also said, referencing a portion of Smith’s memoir in which he discusses being eight years old and not able to protect his mother.
“I know that feeling of being a man and thinking about the little boy. If that trauma is not dealt with right away as you get older, it will show up in the most inappropriate, most horrible time,” Perry continued.
His remarks come months after Smith slapped Rock at the Academy Awards after Rock made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Jada, I love ya. ‘G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it,” Rock said at the time, referencing Pinkett Smith, who revealed in 2018 that she had been diagnosed with alopecia areata, a disease that causes hair loss.
Smith has since been placed on a ten-year ban from attending any Academy event.
The actor has also apologized for his behavior, calling it “unacceptable and inexcusable.”