Tyler Perry Said He Was “De-Escalating” The Situation, Not “Comforting” Will Smith After Oscars Slap

Tyler Perry opened up about Will Smith’s now-iconic Oscar slap and said he wanted to comfort both men.

The film producer spoke with Gayle King during the Tribeca Festival. Though reluctant to talk about the subject, Perry said that he did not like people believing that he only came to Smith’s rescue.

“There is a difference between comforting and de-escalating,” Perry shared with King. Later on, he explained that he went to check on Rock and made sure he told Smith that his actions were inappropriate. He said that the “Bad Boys” actor was “devastated” over his actions and even shocked that he had assaulted Rock.

Smith notoriously slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars for joking about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith being bald. Pinkett-Smith suffers from alopecia, and when Rock made the joke, the “Set It Off” actress was visibly upset. Perry and Denzel Washington were seen speaking with Smith following the slap.

Even though the “Madea” creator shared his two cents on the matter, he did admit that he was not happy to be speaking about the issue in detail.

“If I talk about it, then it becomes overshadowing of everything else we talked about. That will be the headline for sure,” Perry said to King.

Smith continues to keep a low profile following the slap. After issuing his public apology and accepting his ban from the Academy, he pretty much fell silent on social media and is said to be focusing on healing.