Zoe Kravitz has spoken out about the backlash she received earlier this year for criticizing Will Smith's behavior at the Oscars. “It’s a scary time to have an opinion,” the actress said.
At the March 27 Oscars, Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith having a shaved head, unaware that she suffered from alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that causes spot baldness. In response, her husband Will Smith stormed the stage, slapped Rock across the face, and cursed him out on live TV. Kravitz, who recently played Catwoman in The Batman, had criticized Will Smith for slapping Rock at this year’s Oscars, resulting in a severe internet backlash against her.
Kravitz reacted to Will Smith's Oscars slap by posting a photo of herself on the red carpet with the caption, “Here’s a picture of my dress at the award show where we are apparently assaulting people on stage now.” Another photo showed her dress for the night, with the caption, “And here is a picture of my dress at the party after the award show -where we are apparently screaming profanities and assaulting people on stage now.” In an interview with WSJ Magazine (via The Hollywood Reporter), Kravitz expressed frustration with the reaction she received. “It’s a scary time to have an opinion or to say the wrong thing or to make controversial art or statements or thoughts or anything,” Kravitz said. “It’s mostly scary because art is about conversation. That should, in my opinion, always be the point. The internet is the opposite of conversation. The internet is people putting things out and not taking anything in.”
Kravitz went on to say, “I was reminded that I’m an artist. Being an artist is not about everybody loving you or everyone thinking you’re hot. It’s about expressing something that will hopefully spark a conversation or inspire people or make them feel seen.” Although the actress stands by her criticism of Smith, she now seems much more hesitant to speak out publicly. “I think I’m in a place right now where I don’t want to express myself through a caption or a tweet. I want to express myself through art.” In the interview, Kravitz concluded, “I’m torn about what to say right now, because I’m supposed to just talk about it; I have very complicated feelings around it. I wish I had handled that differently. And that’s OK.”
Fans of Will Smith lashed out at Kravitz, insulting her on social media and digging up dirt to harm her. This primarily included dragging up old interviews for the 2013 film After Earth, where she had referred to her co-star Jaden Smith, who was 14 at the time, as “handsome” and “cool.” In the span of one day, Kravitz went from one of the most beloved celebrities on the internet to being an accused of being a sexual predator because of her criticism of Will Smith.
While the actress is still nursing the damage from the internet backlash, Will Smith has himself acknowledged that what he did was wrong. In a video posted online in July, Will Smith adressed the Oscars slap, saying, that “there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment.” After the incident, he resigned from the Academy and was banned from attending the ceremony for the next ten years.
The Batman is now available to stream on HBO Max.
Source: Wall Street Journal (via The Hollywood Reporter)