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As Will Smith continues to be the topic of the internet since his infamous Oscars slap, a resurfaced clip where The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor mocked a celebrity for being bald has appeared online.
This comes after the 53-year-old walked on stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock during the Academy Awards. The response was prompted after the latter joked about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, which she had to deal with since battling Alopecia.
In the now-viral clip, which was from a 1991 The Arsenio Hall Show interview, Will Smith targeted bass player John B. Williams by saying:
“The bass player? He got a rule. He got to wax his head every morning. That’s a rule! He follows the rules, man. He follows the rules.”
As the actor delivered the joke, the camera panned to Williams, who laughed and nodded along. When someone in the audience appeared disturbed by the joke, Smith stated: “Oh, these are jokes. Come on!”
John B. Williams opines on Will Smith’s Oscars slap
In an interview with the Rolling Stone, the bass player confirmed that he did not take offense to Will Smith’s comment in the past and also mentioned that he can “sympathize” with the Oscar-winner currently. Speaking of the viral slap, Williams said:
“Chris Rock is a comedian. I like Chris Rock. When Chris first made the comment, Will was laughing. It wasn’t until it became obvious Jada didn’t think it was funny that Will went to her defense. Love makes you do all kinds of things. That’s his wife, who he loves. He just reacted from outrage. I have sometimes reacted from outrage.”
The bass player also confirmed that he does not suffer from Alopecia. However, his hair was thinning at the time due to a childhood case of measles which he has recovered from since. The instrumentalist added that he decided to shave his head and never looked back after battling hair loss.
Williams also defended the Ali actor by stating that the latter could not take the joke in jest as it was targeted at his wife and not himself.
The musician also expressed that he wished Will Smith would have “used his words first, not second, maybe they could have worked it out.” He added that the brawl captured on live television was “unfortunate.”
Speaking on Smith’s and Rock’s characters, Williams stated that they are “decent young men” and that he would “like to see them get past this.”
Following the moment which shocked the world, Will Smith issued a public apology to Chris Rock on his Instagram profile. He also apologized to the Academy, producers, and the Williams family. This comes after Smith won an "Oscar for Best Actor" for portraying Richard Williams in the movie King Richard.
Internet reacts to Smith's bald joke in the resurfaced video
The internet reacted quite extensively up on the resurfaced video of the artist from the past. The reactions, however, were mixed.
A user pointed out how Will was young and not fully mature about sensitive things back then.
