Tyler Perry recently opened up about the Oscars slap two months after his friend Will Smith struck the comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.
Perry, who is friends with both Smith and Rock, shared his opinion and spoke for the first time Monday during a storyteller conversation with Gayle King at the Tribeca Film Festival, Variety reported.
“I left early to go and check on Chris because it was wrong in no uncertain terms,” Perry said, according to the entertainment publication.
"I made sure I said that to Will, and when we walked over to him, he was devastated. He couldn’t believe what happened.”
Perry, 52, went on to add," he tried his best to “de-escalate” the situation at the March awards ceremony at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre. He said he believes Smith, 53, is still reflecting on his actions.
“I think he is very much in reflection of trying to figure out what happened,” Perry said.
He also speculated that Smith’s impulse reaction to hit Rock after the 57-year-old comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's hair may have come from a place of childhood trauma.
Perry said being close to both Smith and Rock has been challenging and made clear that he did not attempt to comfort Smith following the incident.
“There’s a difference between comforting and de-escalating,” Perry said. “Being friends with both of them, it’s been very difficult.”