News : Will Smith Addresses 10-Year Ban From The Oscars Over Chris Rock Slap

Will Smith has shared his thoughts on the 10-year ban he received from the Oscars after his infamous Chris Rock incident at the annual show in 2022.

In an interview with the AP on Friday (March 21), the legendary rapper/actor was asked flat-out what his plans are with the ban.

“I am looking to be the best human I can possibly be and I’m gonna take what I get with that,” Will vaguely replied.

He later added: “I’ve taken the last couple of years to really do a deep dive on the parts of me that may or may not been in that level of certainty and asking those deep scary internal questions.”

When asked about criticism he’s received from his peers, like Jim Carrey saying Will was “living beyond the bandwidth” and cracked under the pressure, he said:  “There’s a small self that — the small concept of myself – can get to the end of his bandwidth. And then, if I back up, there’s like an infinite space, where my bandwidth is the bandwidth of life itself.

He continued: “It’s like trying to not get stuck in having to be only a narrow band of things, to give myself permission to be wider in the truth of who and what I actually am.”

Back in June, Stephen A. Smith shared his thoughts on the incident via his YouTube channel amid news of Bad Boys: Ride or Die attaining blockbuster status at the box office.

While he has supported Will Smith since the ordeal, the TV personality wants to see Will “sit down and talk to the Black community” about the moment, as he feels Rock “will never get over that, ever” and is “damaged” because of it.

“We know you wouldn’t have smacked Ricky Gervais, Bill Maher, Bill Burr or a host of others,” Smith said. “We know you wouldn’t have done that. No apology is necessary. I’m just saying a lot of folks ain’t get over that. A lot of folks find it hard to just go to the movies to watch you. I’m one of those people.”

Upon the internet discussing his comments, Stephen doubled down on what he said in a post shared on X.

“Yep. I said it,” he wrote. “But I have some additional thoughts — thinking about all that Will & Martin [Lawrence] have done for us all — especially after talking to my man Charlie Mack.”

Bad Boys: Ride Or Die was Will Smith’s first movie since the infamous Oscar slap.

According to Variety, the fourth installment of the Bad Boys franchise raked in $56 million in theaters across the United States in its opening weekend and an additional $48.6 million across the world, for an international grand total of $104.6 million.