There are no hard feelings Will Packer, the producer of this year’s Oscar awards, toward Will Smith after the infamous slap. In fact, he admits that he is “pulling for” a full recovery for one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Entertainment Tonight’s Rachel Smith caught up with Packer at the New York City premiere of the new film Beats and Packer spoke about the recent public apology issued by Smith.
“I love the fact that he’s being so transparent about his process,” Packer said. “Clearly he is going through his own personal rehabilitation.”
He added, “I’m pulling for him. I’m pulling for him to continue his own process, but I think this is for him. He needs to do it.”
In his apology video, Will Smith revealed that representatives for Chris Rock said the famed comedian was not ready to speak to him.
In an update, PEOPLE magazine reveals that Rock feels he never needs to speak to Smith about the matter.
“Chris doesn’t need to talk. This is clearly something that bothers Will more than Chris,” a source stated. “Will needs to deal with his issues. Chris is fine.”
A second source added, “The fact that he is making jokes about it already is a good thing. That means he is assessing it. But the stress of the slap and the aftermath has not taken over his life. Quite the opposite.”
Two weeks ago, Will Smith released a video on social media apologizing formally to Chris Rock for the Oscars slap and also answering some pressing questions from fans.
While in Atlanta at The Fox Theatre hours later, Chris Rock didn’t directly mention the video but did make a comparison joke between Will Smith and Suge Knight.
“Everybody is trying to be a fucking victim,” Rock said, according to PEOPLE. “If everybody claims to be a victim, then nobody will hear the real victims. Even me getting smacked by Suge Smith … I went to work the next day, I got kids.”
He added, “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face.”
In the video, Smith apologized to Rock and his family members. He would go on to apologize to other winners during the night. Smith also stated he reached out to Chris Rock’s team, who responded, “he’s not ready to talk and when he is, he will reach out.”
You can see the apology below.
