Will Smith addresses his Oscars 'rage' during 'Daily Show' visit

Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Will Smith continues to express regret over slapping comedian Chris Rock for a joke he made about Smith's wife at the Oscars ceremony earlier this year.

"I was gone, dude," Smith told host Trevor Noah on Monday's edition of The Daily Show. "That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time."

In his first late-night TV appearance since the incident in March, Smith went on to recall how he went home with his Best Actor statuette for his performance in King Richard and was immediately confronted by his 9-year-old nephew about his on-stage behavior at the ceremony.

"He's the sweetest little boy. He stayed up late to see his Uncle Will. We are sitting in the kitchen, he's on my lap holding the Oscar, [and he asked,] 'Why did you hit that man, Uncle Will?'" Smith said. "It was a mess. I don't want to go too far into it to give people more to misunderstand."

The Independence Day and Men in Black icon, who always had a nice-guy reputation, said he understands his attack on Rock was "shocking."

He added that he was "going through something that night," but "that doesn't justify my behavior at all."

"Hurt people hurt people," Smith said. "That's not who I want to be."

Smith has publicly apologized for his actions, but has been banned for 10 years from attending the Oscars.

He will soon be seen in the film, Emancipation.