Will Smith posts an apology video for slapping Chris Rock
New York, Jul 29: Will Smith has again apologised to Chris Rock for slapping him during the Oscar telecast in a new video, saying that his behaviour was unacceptable and that he had reached out to the comedian to discuss the incident but was told Rock wasn't ready.
There is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment, Smith said in the video posted online Friday. I am deeply remorseful and I'm trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself.
Smith, seated in a white polo shirt and white ball cap, spoke directly to a camera, answering pre-selected questions about his behaviour at the March 27 Academy Awards, when he slapped presenter Rock after the comedian made a comment about the hairstyle of Jada Pinkett Smith, Smith's wife.
Smith also apologised to Rock's family and especially his mother, Rosalie, who was horrified to see her son hurt and told US Weekly that, "When he slapped Chris, he slapped all of us. He really slapped me. Smith also apologised to Tony Rock, Chris' younger brother.
I didn't realise how many people got hurt in that moment, Smith said.
Smith also apologised to his family for the heat that I brought on all of us and his fellow Oscar nominees to have stolen and tarnished your moment. He said his wife did nothing to encourage his slap. Jada had nothing to do with it," he said. I made a choice on my own.
Following the altercation, the motion picture academy banned Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years. Smith apologised to Rock in a statement after the Oscars, saying he was out of line and I was wrong.
I'm sorry really isn't sufficient, Smith said in the video.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
