Zoë Kravitz admitted she regrets the way she responded to the Will Smith Oscars ordeal.
Smith was widely condemned after he walked onto the stage at the 2022 Academy Awards and hit Chris Rock in the face after a joke was made about the closely shaved head of Smith's wife, Jada, who has alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss.
Shortly after, Kravitz posted an Instagram photo of herself on the red carpet.
"Here's a picture of my dress at the show where we are apparently assaulting people on stage now," she captioned the image. When asked by one commenter at the time if she supported Smith defending his wife at the event, Kravitz simply replied "nope."
In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Kravitz commented on her earlier reaction to the incident.
"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," she said. "I wish I had handled that differently. And that's OK."
Kravitz sparked backlash with her post and deleted the photo soon after posting it.
"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 told The Wall Street Journal. "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."
However, Kravitz explained that the moment reminded her that she's 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," she said.
Kravtiz's remarks come shortly after Smith publicly reached out to Rock and offered him an apology in a video posted on YouTube.
"I've reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he's not ready to talk, and when he is he will reach out," Smith said. "So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable, and I'm here whenever you're ready to talk."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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