Will Smith breaks silence on Chris Rock slap: 'This is probably irreparable'

Will Smith shared a heartfelt video on social media on Friday, directly addressing the moment at the Oscars when he slapped presenter Chris Rock.

In the video, the first time the actor has addressed the incident since his apology post in March, an earnest-looking Smith answers fan questions on the fallout from the slap, which made news around the world.

“Over the last few months, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and personal work. You asked a lot of fair questions that I wanted to take some time to answer,” Smith says at the beginning of the video.

While Rock was presenting an award during the Oscars ceremony, he made a joke about Smith's wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, and her hair.

Smith stormed the stage and slapped Rock across the face before returning to his chair, screaming expletives, in what has become one of the most shocking Oscars moments ever.

One of the first questions Smith answers in the video is why he didn't apologise to Rock during his acceptance speech when he won the Best Actor award.

“I was far down by that point. It’s all fuzzy,” Smith says. “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.”

He then addresses Rock directly: “I apologise to you. My behaviour was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”

Smith also apologises to Rock's mother, Rose, who has said that the incident felt as if Smith had slapped her.

“When Will slapped Chris, he slapped all of us, but he really slapped me,” Rose said in an interview with US television station WIS following the incident.

In the video, Smith offers his apologies to Rose and Rock's extended family.

“I wasn’t thinking how many people got hurt in that moment. This is probably irreparable,” he says.

Answering a question about whether or not it was his wife who had asked him to do something, Smith says he “made my the choice on my own from my own experiences with Chris”.

“Jada had nothing to do with it,” he says, and then adds: “I am sorry, babe.”

Smith also apologises to all his fellow nominees and Academy members, saying: “It breaks my heart to have stolen and tarnished your moment. 'I am sorry' isn’t really sufficient.”

To a question about what message he had for fans who used to look up to him, Smith says he's “deeply remorseful”.

“Disappointing people is my central trauma. I hate when I let people down,” he says. “So, it hurts to know that I didn’t live up to people’s image and impression of me. And the work I’m trying to do is that, I’m deeply remorseful. And I am trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself. I am only human.”

He then concludes the video with a promise, that he has become devoted to bettering himself.

“I know it was confusing. I know it was shocking. But I promise you, I am deeply devoted to putting light and love and joy into the world,” he says.

“If you hang on, I promise we will be able to be friends again.”

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”