Michael Bay has said that he would “100 percent” still work with Will Smith on another movie, even though the actor slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars.
In a recent interview with EW, while promoting his new movie Ambulance, Bay admitted that he is willing to work with Smith despite his recent indiscretions.
The director said:
“Absolutely, 100 percent. He’s a very even-keeled guy. Very even-keeled.”
The 57-year-old directed the first two Bad Boys movies starring Smith.
Bay continued in the interview, explaining his perspective on the whole thing:
“At first, immediately I’m like, Did this just happen? Then I saw the yell from Will. That’s a real Will yell. Will is an amazing fighter. He’s studied boxing. First of all, it’s wrong to do, no matter what. Let’s just get that out there. But when people said, ‘Oh, he could have killed him.’ No, a slap is different. A punch? Yeah, you can kill someone. Will gave him a slap.”
He continued:
“I’ve been to Kyiv, I’ve met with the mayor. And I’m like, you know what? There are babies getting blown up by the hundreds right now and people are so concerned about this. I don’t know. To me, it’s just like, enough of it. All right, so a dramatic thing happened, but I just think we’ve got to get our priorities straight.”
Will Smith has been given a 10 year Oscars ban following the incident.
