Tyler Perry comments on Will Smith’s Oscars slap: ‘He was devastated’

• Tyler has finally discussed about the Oscars incidents
• Tyler is friends with both Chris Rock and Will Smith
• 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 inciden

Tyler Perry has spoken out about the Oscars incident two months after his friend Will Smith allegedly slapped comedian Chris Rock while cracking a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith and comparing her to G. I. Jane.

Read More: Will Smith was bashed for not apologizing to Chris Rock in his Oscar acceptance speech, despite slapping him during the fight

Perry, who is friends with both Smith and Rock, spoke for the first time Monday at the Tribeca Film Festival during a storyteller conversation with Gayle King, according to Variety.

“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’s hair may have come from a place of childhood trauma.

Read More: This is how Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry calmed Will Smith down after he smacked Chris Rock

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.”