Kaya 959 Reporter
Since the Oscars, Tyler Perry says that being friends with both Will Smith and Chris Rock has been “very difficult.”
The 52-year-old actor has spoken out about how Will Smith, star of “King Richard,” struck comedian Chris in the face after he made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s alopecia during this year’s Academy Awards, and how he tried to diffuse the situation on the night.
Perry was speaking at the Tribeca Film Festival Q and A and said “There’s a difference between comforting and de-escalating, that’s number one. And I left early to get to Chris to make sure he was okay. Being friends with both of them has been very difficult.
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He added that he was shocked like the rest of the world when the incident happened and saw it up close.
“I was there, close up. I left early to go check on Chris because it was wrong in no uncertain terms, and I made sure I said that to Will.
“And I’ll tell you, when we walked over to him, he was devastated. He couldn’t believe what happened. He couldn’t believe he did it. And I’m looking at this man in his eyes going, ‘What are you doing? This is your night!’
“And to get all the way to this moment, winning an Oscar, that was one of the crowning moments of his career that he wanted so desperately. And to have something like that happen, I think he is very much in reflection of trying to figure out what happened.
Following the incident, Smith – who has been married to Jada since 1997 and has children Jaden, 23, and Willow, 21, with her – previously described his behaviour at the Oscars as “shocking, painful and inexcusable”.
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