Faithwire
  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • SCOTUS
  • Life
  • Religious Liberty
  • News
  • Politics
  • Faith
  • Opinion

‘Only God Can Help a Man Endure’: Will Smith Speaks on Faith After Infamous Oscars Slap

Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Share Tweet
By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor

December 2, 2022

Award-winning actor Will Smith is stepping out from the dark cloud of his infamous Oscars slap, now claiming his latest project is bringing him closer to God.

During an interview with “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, Smith explained that, in his new film, “Emancipation,” which debuts this weekend in theaters and on Apple+, he portrays a formerly enslaved man named Peter. The man’s historical prominence was solidified when a shocking photo depicting the severe wounds he sustained during violent lashings circulated during the Civil War.

Listen to the latest episode of CBN’s Quick Start podcast 👇

Known as “Whipped Peter,” the man escaped slavery in Louisiana and joined the Union Army. “Emancipation” chronicles his harrowing life story.

“This film,” Smith said, “centers on faith.”

The 54-year-old actor went on to say Peter seemed to possess “the power of faith to be able to endure anything.” He continued, “This character … what he had to endure and what he had to survive, only God could make a man — when you look at those marks on his back — only God could make that possible.”

As the story was recounted to Smith, Peter was once beaten so severely, he entered a coma — at which point he met God. When he regained his consciousness, Smith said, Peter “believed in a way that he had never believed before.”

“The difference between faith and revelation … he walked in the world with a knowledge of the divine, a  knowledge of God that is just something that I’ve just desperately wanted to understand and explore,” said Smith.

Noah also addressed the elephant in the room: the slap heard ’round the world.

The shocking act of violence occurred at the Academy Awards earlier this year, when comedian and actor Chris Rock, who was serving as the award show’s emcee, made a seemingly light-hearted joke about Smith’s wife, actor Jada Pinkett Smith, who had shaved her head.

Not knowing about her alopecia diagnosis, Rock made a “G.I. Jane 2” joke about Pinkett Smith. At that point, Smith walked onto the stage, slapped the comedian across the face, and hurled expletives at him.

Smith acknowledged to Noah he “lost it” that night.

“I guess what I would say is that you just never know what somebody’s going through,” he said. “You just don’t know what’s going on with people.”

“I was going through something that night, not that that justifies my behavior at all,” the celebrity added. “We just got to be nice to each other, man. It’s hard. I guess the thing that was most painful for me is that I took my hard and made it hard for other people. I understood the idea when they say, ‘Hurt people hurt people.'”

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

Latest

  • culture

    ‘I…Won’t Be Competing’: ‘Soul Surfer’ Legend Bethany Hamilton Speaks Out Against League’s New Trans Policy

  • News

    The Chosen’s Season Three Finale Lands in Top 10 in Weekend Box Office

  • Entertainment

    ‘Full-On, Openly Satanic’: Sam Smith ‘Unholy’ Grammy Performance With Devils, Horns Called ‘Diabolical’

  • News

    ‘It Blows My Mind’: Complete Strangers Miraculously Save Hockey Player During Pick-Up Game

  • Faith

    Mom Turns Teen Over to Cops After He Allegedly Carjacks Pastor: ‘The Hardest Thing But the Best Thing’


Sponsored
Sponsored

Newsletter
Signup

Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • ‘I…Won’t Be Competing’: ‘Soul Surfer’ Legend Bethany Hamilton Speaks Out Against League’s New Trans Policy
  • The Chosen’s Season Three Finale Lands in Top 10 in Weekend Box Office
  • ‘Full-On, Openly Satanic’: Sam Smith ‘Unholy’ Grammy Performance With Devils, Horns Called ‘Diabolical’
  • ‘It Blows My Mind’: Complete Strangers Miraculously Save Hockey Player During Pick-Up Game
  • Mom Turns Teen Over to Cops After He Allegedly Carjacks Pastor: ‘The Hardest Thing But the Best Thing’

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016

Categories

  • Christian Persecution
  • Coronavirus
  • culture
  • Culture
  • Entertainment
  • Faith
  • Faith
  • Family
  • George Floyd
  • Go!
  • Israel
  • Life
  • Life
  • Lifestyle
  • Media
  • Men
  • Mission Haiti
  • News
  • News
  • Opinion
  • P.O.V
  • Politics
  • Politics
  • Sponsored
  • Sports
  • Virtue
  • Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Navigation

  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.

Newsletter Signup

Do you want to read
more articles like this?