Denzel Washington speaks out on Will Smith's slap at 2022 Oscars
Apr 03, 2022
Washington [US], April 3 : Hollywood star Denzel Washington has now spoken publicly about what happened at the 2022 Oscars ceremony where he was seen consoling Will Smith after the latter slapped Chris Rock.
According to Variety, on Saturday morning, Washington attended author and Bishop T.D. Jakes' leadership summit for a discussion about his career and faith when Jakes asked him about what happened between Smith and Rock at the Oscars.
Washington told Jakes on stage, "Well, there's a saying, 'When the devil ignores you, then you know you're doing something wrong.' The devil goes, 'Oh no, leave him alone, he's my favourite.' Conversely, when the devil comes at you, maybe it's because he's trying to do something right. And for whatever reason, the devil got ahold of that circumstance that night."
"Fortunately there were people there. Not just me, but others. Tyler Perry came immediately right over there with me. [Said] some prayers. I don't wanna say what we talked about, but for the grace of God go any of us. Who are we to condemn? I don't know all the ins and outs of the situation, but I know the only solution was prayer, the way I see it," the actor continued.
During the Oscars ceremony, Washington was seen speaking to Smith after he slapped Rock for making a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences launched an investigation into the assault this week, and on Friday Smith resigned from the Academy's membership.
As per Variety, at his first stand-up show since the slap, Rock spoke about the incident in Boston, saying that he's still "processing what happened" and will discuss it at a later time.
