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Breaking News: J Balvin Reveals Why He Brought Out Will Smith at Coachella After… full story below πππ
Itβs been more than two years since the Oscars slap heard around the world, and J Balvin believes in forgiveness.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the Latin superstar opened up about bringing Will Smith out onstage with him during his headlining Coachella set earlier this year. βWill Smith has always been one of my biggest idols. Period. I feel really connected with him. You cannot judge a person for some mistakes,β he told the publication, referring to the backlash Smith faced after slapping Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscars ceremony, which led to a 10-year ban from the Academy. βA mistake cannot define who you are because if itβs like that, we all are bad.β
J Balvin continued, β[With] what happened with Will Smith, I felt his pain because I was going through a similar situation when I felt that some part of the world was against me for mistakes.β
The incident occurred after Rock made an onstage joke about Smithβs wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, during the Academy Awards ceremony. βJada, I love you. G.I Jane 2, canβt wait to see it,β the comedian said about her shaved head β which is caused by the actressβ struggles with alopecia.
The King Richard actor then slapped Rock onstage, who attempted to continue his banter before Smith began shouting from his seat, βKeep my wifeβs name out your fβing mouth.β
Balvin concluded, βMy inner child was screaming to have him in my show because there was no one better than him [β¦] I told him my vision. He said, βGive me a week.β And I kept pressuring, man. I kept sending him pictures of me praying, until he called and said he was down, and it was a beautiful moment to see us together, man.β
During Balvinβs set, Smith made a surprise appearance dressed as his Men in Black character, Agent J, and proceeded to rap the iconic filmβs theme song