S. Samuel
Hollywood star Will Smith has finally come forward to address the hype surrounding his caught-on-camera slapping of a male reporter who tried to sneak him a kiss last week.
Laughing off the hype, Smith downplayed any seriousness behind his defensive reaction.
“I didn’t beat up a guy! No, no. I was in Moscow and … we’re doing an interview and he says, ‘Man …,’ he was a reporter and he says, ‘I’m your biggest fan, can I have a hug, please?’ ” he recalled to Letterman. “So I go to give this joker a hug and he tries to lean in to kiss me, you know? And … it’s just awkward, Dave.” (“Late Show With David Letterman”)
Footage of the incident circulated online last Friday (May 18) afternoon.
Will Smith just slapped a Ukrainian reporter across the face at the Moscow premiere of “Men in Black 3” — and it was all caught on tape. The Ukrainian reporter tries to kiss Will on the lips on the red carpet and the actor angrily pushes him away and then backhands him across the face. You can clearly see that Will is incredibly pissed that the guy showed overt affection toward him. After Will slaps the guy, Will says, “He’s lucky I didn’t sucker punch him.” (TMZ)
As the news streamed in, it turned out the kiss may have been a celebrity gag.
We’re told the dude who kissed Will is a television reporter who often kisses celebrities — it’s his schtick. For the record, Will just came out in support of gay marriage. A source on scene tells TMZ, the reporter’s mouth brushed up against Will’s and that’s why the actor reacted so violently. Despite the incident, Will stayed positive … and happily continued to sign autographs for fans and do red carpet interviews. (TMZ)
The married movie star recently dished out his thoughts on same-sex marriage.
Interestingly, Smith (who played an openly gay character in the 1993 film Six “Degrees of Separation”) came out in support of same-sex marriage earlier this week, on the heels of President Barack Obama‘s acceptance of the institution. Yahoo! News shares that Smith told reporters in Berlin on Monday that “If anybody can find someone to love them and to help them through this difficult thing that we call life, I support that in any shape or form.” (RapFix)
Check out the attempted kiss below:
