Will Smith Seems To Be on ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ As He Travels to India After Oscars Slap

While most of us still have Will Smith’s very infamous Oscars slap engraved in our minds — there were way too many memes of Smith slapping Chris Rock to ever truly forget — it seems the “Seven Pounds” actor has turned a new leaf. Almost a month after the incident, Smith has just resurfaced in Mumbai, India.

The 53-year-old actor went through his fair share of controversy after slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars ceremony. For one, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences banned him for 10 years from all events, including the Oscars. While Smith was able to keep his Best Actor award for his role in “King Richard,” some viewers and celebrities like Jim Carrey and Zoe Kravitz were appalled by his actions. 

That said, others understood Smith’s decision to defend his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith after Rock joked about her shaved head (she actually suffers from alopecia), including one Twitter user that wrote, “People are so used to Black women being unprotected & the butt of the joke that I think a lot of this shock is really about her being treated as someone who deserved protection.”

Still, the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” actor was fiercely apologetic after the slap, releasing a statement that hinted at needing a break from it all — a perfect reason to make the trip to India. 

Smith said: “change takes time and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason.” He continued, “I was out of line and I was wrong” but also explained, “a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear.” Calling the slap “shocking, painful and inexcusable,” it makes sense that the actor has now landed in India to unwind and possibly reflect on his actions.

Landing at a private airport in Mumbai, Smith posed for photos with fans, including an airport security guard. The actor appeared happy with a wide grin in the pictures, with TMZ claiming that paparazzi knew Smith was coming and awaited his arrival. Meanwhile, some outlets state Smith traveled to India to meet with a spiritual guru to figure out how to control his anger. 

While it seems like the actor is starting fresh, people close to Rock are not so quick to accept apologies — especially Rock’s mother Rose Rock. 

The comedian’s mother expressed her shock to WIS TV, stating, “You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye and you went and made her day.” She continued, “When he slapped Chris, he slapped all of us. He really slapped me.” While she said that she wouldn’t take Smith’s Best Actor award away, she still said, “I feel really bad that he never apologized. I mean his people wrote up a piece saying ‘I apologize to Chris Rock,’ but you see something like that is personal, you reach out.”