Tyler Perry is making his stance on the Will Smith-Chris Rock slapping incident very clear.
After that shocking 2022 Oscars moment, Perry was photographed talking to Smith and placing his hand on his shoulder. And during a June 13 talk with Gayle King at New York's Tribeca Festival, the director clarified he wasn't taking anyone's side. As he put it, per Deadline, "There is a difference between comforting and deescalating."
Indeed, Perry noted he also wanted to see if Rock was OK. "I was there, close up," he recalled, per the outlet. "I left early to go and check on Chris because it was wrong in no uncertain terms, and I made sure I said that to Will."
Looking back at that moment, Perry said Smith, who won the Best Actor in a Leading Role accolade for his role in King Richard that night, "was devastated."
"He couldn't believe what happened," the Madea star reportedly added. "He couldn't believe he did it. And I'm looking at this man in his eyes going, 'What are you doing?' This is your night….And to get all this way to winning an Oscar. It was one of the crowning moments of his career that he wanted so desperately."
According to People, Perry noted it's been "very difficult" being friends with both of them. And while he doesn't condone Smith's actions, he still has empathy for him, as well as Rock.
"Trust me, as painful as it was for all of us in the room, it was as painful for Chris, who was a pure champion for the way he handled it," he said, per the magazine. "But I want you to understand that something happened that was extremely painful for [Will] as well. That is no excuse. He was completely wrong for what he did. But something triggered him — that is so out of everything he is."
Smith slapped Rock onstage at the March award show after the comedian made a joke about the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum's wife Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head (the actress has publicly spoken about her alopecia diagnosis before). After he returned to his seat, Smith told Rock to "keep my wife's name out of your f--king mouth."
Smith apologized to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and to his fellow nominees during his acceptance speech and apologized to Rock a few days later in an Instagram post.
"My behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable," he wrote in part of his message. "Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally."
Smith resigned from the Academy and has been banned from any of its events for the next 10 years.
As for Rock, he's stayed relatively quiet about the incident, making a subtle reference or two during his stand-up shows. However, Pinkett-Smith recently expressed her hope that Smith and Rock can work things out.
"My deepest hope is that these two intelligent capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out, and reconcile," she said in a June episode of her show Red Table Talk. "With the state of the world today, we need them both—and we all actually need one another more than ever. Until then, Will and I are continuing to do what we have done for the last 28 years, and that's keep figuring out this thing called life together."