Denzel Washington Prayed With Will Smith During Oscars After Chris Rock Slap

Denzel Washington has spoken for the first time about the infamous 2022 Oscars incident where Will Smith slapped the taste out of Chris Rock’s mouth. During the Academy Awards ceremony, Denzel was found consoling Smith after the incident on the stage of the Dolby Theatre.

On Saturday, Washington appeared at pastor T.D Jakes’ leadership summit on Saturday morning for a discussion surrounding Washington’s career and faith. During their talk, Jakes asked him about the Oscars fiasco.

“Well, there’s a saying, ‘When the devil ignores you, then you know you’re doing something wrong.’ The devil goes, ‘Oh no, leave him alone, he’s my favorite.’ Conversely, when the devil comes at you, maybe it’s because he’s trying to do something right. And for whatever reason the devil got ahold of that circumstance that night,” 

Washington was accompanied by Tyler Perry during a commercial break when he talked to Smith after the slapping incident. During his acceptance speech for best actor, Smith thanked Washington and said that Washington told him, “At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.”

“Fortunately there were people there. Not just me, but others, Tyler Perry, came immediately right over there with me. [Said] some prayers. I don’t wanna say what we talked about, but there but for the grace of God go any of us. Who are we to condemn? I don’t know all the ins and outs of the situation, but I know the only solution was prayer, the way I see it,” Washington said on Saturday.

Following the incident, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences launched an investigation into the assault this week, and ahead of it, Smith resigned from the Academy’s membership.

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