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On Thursday, April 7, Will Smith's long-term friend, record producer and songwriter DJ Jaffy Jeff spoke about the actor's incident at the 94th Academy Awards. The artist addressed Smith's altercation with Chris Rock at the Closed Sessions Legend Conversation.
At the event, reportedly held at Dorian's Through The Record Shop in Chicago, Jeff discussed his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-star and his rare outburst at the Oscars. He also called it a "lapse in judgment" from Will Smith.
The record producer also referred to prior incidents where Smith could have physically assaulted someone but refrained from doing so and maintained his composure.
What did DJ Jazzy Jeff say about Will Smith's Oscar slap incident?
Following the Oscars 2022 incident, Smith issued an apology to Chris Rock and declared his resignation from the Academy. Smith's actions on that day also resulted in a decade-long ban from The Academy.
The 57-year-old record producer insinuated that Smith had made a hasty judgment on the day when he went on stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock, who had made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's hair. At the time, Chris Rock was allegedly unaware of Pinkett Smith's alopecia.
DJ Jaffy Jeff said:
"Don't get it twisted that it was something he was proud of. It was a lapse in judgment, you know?"
The clip of the music mogul's opinion about his good friend Smith dropped by WCCI on Instagram around four days later. Jeff further added:
"I think the thing that I've realized is I don't know too many people that has had the least amount of lapse of judgment than him. I can name 50 times that he should've smacked the s**t out of somebody, and he didn't."
While speaking at the event, DJ Jaffy Jeff elaborated on his points by saying that Smith is nothing but human. He also reasoned that the criticisms were coming from people who do not consider others to be fallible humans.
DJ Jaffy Jeff and Smith have been friends since before their iconic show started. The two had formed a rap duo that garnered a lot of fame prior to the premiere of the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Like Jeff, multiple other celebrities have expressed their support for the Oscar-winning actor after the fiasco. On April 2, Denzel Washington spoke about the incident at Jakes' annual event International Leadership Summit. He said:
"Conversely, when the devil comes at you, maybe it's because he's trying to do something right. And for whatever reason, the devil got ahold of him (Will Smith) that night."
Similarly, Michael Bay also supported Will Smith's while speaking to Entertainment Weekly. The director referred to Smith as a very "even-keeled" guy.
