Tyler Perry was there at the last Academy Awards when Will Smith inflicted the now-famous slap on Chris Rock, and he took it upon himself to talk to the actor to calm him down.
A moment on which the director was kind enough to come back while he spoke with the presenter of
CBS Mornings
, Gayle King, during the Tribeca Film Festival.
“I was there, as close as possible.
I left early to see how Chris was doing because what had happened was wrong, without question, and I wanted to tell Will, “said Tyler Perry during this interview relayed by Deadline.
An unresolved trauma
"He was devastated," Tyler Perry continued of Will Smith.
“He couldn't believe what had happened.
He couldn't believe what he had done.
And, looking that man in the eye, I said, “What are you doing?
It's your big night… You've come all this way to win an Oscar”.
It was one of the highlights he desperately wanted to see happen in his career.
»
Following this incident, Will Smith was banned from events organized by the Academy of Oscars for a period of ten years.
"I think he is immersed in deep reflection, trying to understand what happened," continued Tyler Perry, for whom Will Smith's gesture may have its source in a trauma that dates from the 'childhood.
Indeed, the actor confided in his recent autobiography that he could never forgive himself for “not having been able to protect his mother when he was 8 years old”.
“I know that feeling… And if that trauma isn't dealt with properly growing up, it's going to come out in the most awful and inappropriate times,” Tyler Perry concluded.
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