This year’s Oscars ceremony turned into a media circus after Will Smith slapped guest presenter Chris Rock for making a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith‘s hair, alluding to the actress making a sequel to the Ridley Scott film “G.I. Jane.” Since then, Smith has made multiple apologies and even resigned his membership in The Academy. Now, a longtime friend, co-worker, and connoisseur of explosions, violence, and mayhem has chimed in.
Yahoo spoke with Smith’s “Bad Boys” director Michael Bay, who first worked with the actor in the 1990s. The filmmaker emphasized that our focus needs to be on more serious issues going on in the world, such as the massacre of Ukrainians at the hands of Russia’s military.
“First of all, it’s wrong, to begin with,” Bay said of The Slap during his promotion for the bank-heist thriller “Ambulance.” “But that’s all people are talking about. And I don’t really care. Hollywood gets really self-absorbed. There are babies getting blown up in Ukraine right now. We should be talking about that.”
The director would go on to defend Smith and indicate that if the actor really wanted to hurt Rock, he could have given his training, seemingly downplaying the slap because it wasn’t a punch.
“I’ve worked with him, he is not that guy,” says Bay, who, like many watching from home, thought the slap was a comedy bit until he saw Smith yelling at Rock from his seat. “I’ve never seen him lose his cool like that. I thought it was set up ’cause I saw the smirk, and I’ve been on set when Will screws with people when he’s joking with people. Listen, it was a slap. It wasn’t a punch. He’s very good at fighting, he’s trained at that … But it’s wrong, to begin with.”
While the original sentiment about focusing on the invasion/atrocities in Ukraine is indeed refreshing, The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit posted on Twitter (See below) that Bay would go on to joke about the altercation while introducing his new film “Ambulance.” So, not wrong enough for the director to stop himself from cracking a joke about it in front of the media for laughs.
High-profile action films starring Smith such as “Fast & Loose” and “Bad Boys 4” are reportedly being paused, however, without directors officially attached to both projects it’s unclear how close they were to getting in front of cameras before the Oscars.
Bay is returning to theaters this month with “Ambulance” after previously working with Netflix on the Ryan Reynolds-led action pic “6 Underground.”