While virtually everyone has seen Will Smith‘s Oscar night slap of Chris Rock, Serena Williams had a different perspective than most. She and her sister, Venus, were on hand that night to celebrate King Richard, a film about their early lives.
Following the incident with Rock, Will was awarded the Best Actor award for portraying the Williams sisters’ dad, Richard.
On Wednesday, in a chat with Gayle King on CBS Mornings, Serena addressed the controversial moment. “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 tennis legend said, referring to Quest’s coming to the stage moments later to accept his Best Documentary trophy for Summer of Soul.
However, Serena continued, “I also feel that I’ve been in a position where I’ve been under a lot of pressure and made a tremendous amount of mistakes. 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.’ We’re all imperfect and we’re all human, and let’s just be kind to each other. And I think that’s often forgotten a lot.”
Smith has repeatedly apologized for the outburst, but was banned from Academy events for 10 years.
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