Zoë Kravitz regrets wading into the debate over Will Smith’s Oscars slap.
Five months after she shared her thoughts on Instagram about Smith hitting Chris Rock onstage at this year’s Oscars, The Batman actress said in a new interview she wishes she had reacted “differently.”
“It’s a scary time to have an opinion or to say the wrong thing or make controversial art or statements or thoughts or anything,” Kravitz told the Wall Street Journal, via People magazine.
Related Story: Zoë Kravitz Calls Out Will Smith for Slapping Chris Rock at Oscars
In a since-deleted March Instagram posts, Kravitz shared images of herself on the red carpet at the Oscars and commented about the slap in the captions.
She wrote next to one photo: “Here’s a picture of my dress at the show where we are apparently assaulting people on stage now.” A second picture of the gown she wore to the Vanity Fair after-party was captioned: “And here is a picture of my dress at the party after the award show – where we are apparently screaming profanities and assaulting people on stage now.”
Her comments sparked backlash across social media.
“The internet is the opposite of conversation. The internet is people putting things out and not taking anything in,” she told the WSJ. “I think I’m in a place right now where I don’t want to express myself through a caption or a tweet. I want to express myself through art.”
Related Story: Chris Rock Compares Will Smith to Jailed Music Mogul Suge Knight
Kravitz was speaking with the paper about her directorial debut, and said she’s rethinking her approach to sharing controversial opinions online.
“I have very complicated feelings around it,” the actress and director admitted. “I wish I had handled that differently. And that’s okay.”
Last month Smith released a video saying he is “deeply remorseful” for slapping Rock after the comedian told a joke onstage about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
“I hate when I let people down. So it hurts. It hurts me psychologically and emotionally to know I didn’t live up to people’s image and impression of me and the work I’m trying to do is I am deeply remorseful and I’m trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself,” Smith said.
He added that he contacted Rock to apologize but so far hasn’t heard back.
“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 shared. “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.”
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