Serena Williams Speaks Out For First Time About Will Smith Oscars Slap: 'I’ve Been There'

For the first time since the infamous Will Smith Oscars slap, Serena Williams is talking about it.

Smith starred as Williams' father in the 2021 film King Richard, which Williams executive-produced with her sister.

On Wednesday, Williams sat down with Gayle King on CBS Mornings.

King made a reference to "the incident," asking Williams:

"What did you feel about that?"

Williams thoughtfully responded:

"I thought it was such an incredible film, and I feel that there was an incredible film after that with Questlove that kind of was overshadowed."

The film Williams referred to is Summer of Soul which won Best Documentary Feature and was being awarded when Smith approached the stage and slapped host Chris Rock.

She continued:

"But, I also feel that I've been in a position where I've been under a lot of pressure and I've made a tremendous amount of mistakes."

"And I'm the kind of person that's like, 'I've been there. I've made a mistake. It's not the end of the world'."

Williams finished:

"We're all imperfect and we're all human, and let's just be kind to each other. I think that's often forgotten..."

You can watch the segment below.

www.youtube.com

Many viewers of the video appreciated Williams' humility and her willingness to forgive.

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Access Hollywood/YouTube

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Others, however, think it's time to move on from the topic completely.

The incident occurred nearly a year ago.

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After the incident, Smith issued a 6-minute video addressing the assault and apologizing to Rock.

He was also banned from returning to the Oscars or any other Academy events for 10 years. He can, however, still be nominated for an award.