Will Smith Delivers First In-Person Awards Speech Since 2022 Oscars

Will Smith went back to the awards phase on Wednesday night to accept the Beacon Award at the African American Film Critics Association Awards event, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The event was the star’s first in-person speech at an awards reveal since the 2022 Oscars debacle.

Smith accepted the bestow Emancipation director Antione Fuqua. “The Beacon Award is planned to highlight movies that are taking on tough topics with insight, informing, in addition to engaging the audience,” the star stated on phase, per THR. “It was our hope that Emancipation, that it would have the ability to bring Peter’s victorious story and steady faith and his deep love for his household to life.”

Last year, Smith stunned audiences by slapping comedian Chris Rock throughout a live broadcast of the Academy Awards. Eight months later on, he returned to late-night tv and took a seat with then-Daily Show host Trevor Noah. When Noah asked Smith about his experience following the notorious minute, Smith stated it was a “dreadful night.”

“There’s numerous subtleties and intricacies to it. But at the end of the day, I simply — I lost it, you understand?” Smith stated. “I was going through something that night, you understand? Not that that validates my habits at all. It was a great deal of things. It was the little kid that viewed his daddy battered his mom, you understand? All of that simply bubbled up because minute. That is not who I wish to be.”