when he made the comment onstage. will smith! reporter: when smith won best actor later in the night, the world waited to hear what he would say. i want to apologize to the academy. i want to apologize to my all my fellow nominees. art imitates life. i look like the crazy father. looks like they said. reporter: obviously, missing from his apologies? chris rock. the actors date back to at least the mid- 90s. which one of you handsome men when rock appeared on the fresh prince of bel-air. but it was in 2016, when rock hosted the oscars that he took aim at the smiths for boycotting the show during the oscar so white campaign. joking that pinkett smith wasn t invited anyway. and poking fun at the size of smith s paycheck for wild, wild west. it s unclear if any of that fed into the oscars feiasco. smith later joining the party circuit with with oscar in hand, dancing to one of his own songs.
wow, dude. it was a gi jane joke. keep my wife s name out your [ bleep ] mouth. i m going to. okay. that was the greatest night in the history of television. just a short time later smith won the academy award for best actor. he did apologize. he did not, however, apologize to chris rock. he apologized to the other nominees. let s watch. richard williams was a fierce defender of his family. i want to apologize to the academy and apologize to all my fellow nominees. art imitates life. i look like the crazy father
alteration and the award for best actor. will smith! reporter: instead, smith was back on stage, accepting his first best actor oscar for king richard, about venus and serena williams father and coach. richard williams was a fierce defender of his family. reporter: smith suggesting he, like serena and venus father, was now protecting his family. art imitates life. i look like the crazy father, just like they said. reporter: also sharing what fellow oscar winner denzel washington told him during a break. denzel said to me a few minutes ago, he said, at your highest moment, be careful, that s when the devil comes for you. reporter: smith apologizing to the academy, but not to rock. i want to apologize to the academy, i want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. reporter: in recent years, jada pinkett smith opening up about her struggles with hair loss.
that they were about to physically remove will smith. and i had not been a part of those conversations, and so i immediately went to the academy leadership that was on-site and i said chris rock doesn t want that. reporter: packer says he and other producers were hoping will smith would go onstage in his acceptance speech and make it better. art imitates life. i look like the crazy father like they said but love will make you do crazy things. reporter: but smith wouldn t apologize to rock for another 24 hours, in a written statement. didn t nail it in terms of a conciliatory acceptance speech in that moment, who then continued to be in the room. reporter: will packer says will smith apologized to him the next day. packerer says the energy in the room was amazing, and that that moment sucked all the energy out. he says it was like someone poured concrete in the room. packer says chris rock saved the
going to solve that like family. reporter: rock s words, a reference to the head shaving character from 1997 s gi jane. over the years, though, smith has spoken publicly about her struggles with alopecia. an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. it s unclear if rock knew this when he made the comment onstage. will smith! reporter: when smith won best actor later in the night, the world waited to hear what he would say. i want to apologize to the academy. i want to apologize to my all my fellow nominees. art imitates life. i look like the crazy father. reporter: obviously, missing from his apologies? chris rock. the actors date back to at least the mid- 90s when rock appeared on the fresh prince of bel-air. but it was in 2016, when rock hosted the oscars, that he took aim at the smiths for boycotting the show during the oscar so