Will Smith Makes First Awards Appearance Since Last Year's Oscars

For the first time since Will Smith’s famous Oscar slap, Will returned to the red carpet to attend an awards ceremony.

Smith accepted the Beacon Award at the African American Film Critics Association Awards on Wednesday alongside his “Emancipation” director Antoine Fuqua.

After Fuqua spoke, thanking the cast and crew, he passed the microphone to Smith.

“‘Emancipation’ was the most individual difficult film of my entire career,” Smith said. “It’s really difficult to transport a modern mind to that period. It’s difficult to imagine that level of inhumanity.”

Smith plays an enslaved man named Peter in the AppleTV+ movie and described filming one scene where another actor ad-libbed and spit on him during a take.

Smith did not attend the NAACP Image Awards last weekend, where he won the best actor award for his performance in the film, but he expressed his gratitude on social media for the recognition.