Zoë Kravitz expressed regret to The Wall Street Journal regarding her decision to publicly call out Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars. A few days after the slap, “The Batman” star posted a photo of herself on Instagram from the Oscars red carpet and wrote, “Here’s a picture of my dress at the show where we are apparently assaulting people on stage now.” Kravitz also responded “nope” when one commenter asked if she supported Smith’s actions.
“I’m torn about what to say right now, because I’m supposed to just talk about it; I have very complicated feelings around it,” Kravitz has now told the Wall Street Journal about how she decided to comment on the Oscars slap. “I wish I had handled that differently. And that’s okay.”
Kravitz’s post on the slap sparked backlash on social media, with many Will Smith supporters bashing her for comments she made previously about Smith’s son, Jaden Smith. The backlash has left Kravitz thinking differently about speaking out on social media.
“It’s a scary time to have an opinion or to say the wrong thing or to make controversial art or statements or thoughts or anything,” Kravitz told WSJ. “It’s mostly scary because art is about conversation. That should, in my opinion, always be the point. The internet is the opposite of conversation. The internet is people putting things out and not taking anything in.”
“I was reminded that I’m an artist,” she added. “Being an artist is not about everybody loving you or everyone thinking you’re hot. It’s about expressing something that will hopefully spark a conversation or inspire people or make them feel seen. 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.”
Kravitz is currently in production on her feature directorial debut “Pussy Island,” starring Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum.
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From Variety US