Will Smith takes the stage for the first time since THAT Oscar slap at AAFCA Awards

Nearly a year after his infamous Chris Rock Oscar smash, Will Smith returned to an awards ceremony at the African-American Film Critics Association Awards Wednesday night.

The 54-year-old actor accepted the Beacon Award at the 14th annual AAFCA Awards, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

Smith’s appearance comes just hours after reports claim Chris Rock’s new live Netflix special will pack the punch.

He was joined by his emancipation director Antoine Fuqua on stage and opened his speech by revealing, “Emancipation was the hardest movie of my entire career,” before joking, “It was all outside, that’s true.”

“I remember it was the second day of shooting and it’s very hard to move a modern mind to that period. It’s hard to imagine that level of inhumanity,” Smith said.

“I remember it was about 110 degrees, we’re out there and I’m in a scene with one of the white actors. We had our line and the actor decided to do ad-lib,” Smith continued.

“So we do the scene and I did my way and he did his way and then he said… spit in the middle of my chest,” he said, as the audience gasped.

Smith himself gasped, adding, “If I’d had pearls on, I’d definitely have held them,” adding that he wanted to shout out to his director Fuqua, but he stopped.

“I stopped and realized that Peter couldn’t have called the director,” said Smith, referring to his character, known as “Whipped Peter,” whose famous picture of a lashed back was published in 1863 and revealed the horrors of slavery.

“So I sat there, and I took a deep breath and we did Take 2, and the actor felt the ad-lib had gone right… I do my way, he does his way, and spits in the middle of my chest weather. I just held on to that moment and part of me was thankful that I really understood,” Smith said.

He then joked that he heard director Fuqua’s voice yell, “Hey, let’s shoot without the spit,” adding, “And in that moment… I knew God was real.”

Smith then turned to his fellow black performers in the crowd, saying it’s people who are really “suffering for the art of bringing these stories to the silver screen and delivering them in a way that has an emotional impact on the telling.” of our stories and hopefully only’. a subtle ability to change a heart, or change a mind.”

He then thanked everyone in the room, “for doing what you guys do to keep our stories alive,” while also thanking Apple, saying they “never backed down” as the budget continued to grow.

“It was the first time I’d heard from a studio, ‘The story is more important than how much it costs to get it done,'” Smith said to applause, before joking, “Then we added some more stuff that we wild ones.’

He concluded his speech by adding: ‘More than anything I would like to thank my brother Antoine Fuqua. He didn’t compromise on one shot.’

“His heart, his mind, his desire to tell this story to all of you and to the world, I was amazed at the effort he would put me through to deliver this film. I appreciate you all. Peter changed my life,” Smith concluded.

Director Antione Fuqua also spoke on stage, starting with the importance of the award they received.

“The Beacon Award aims to highlight films that tackle challenging subjects with insight, are enlightening and captivate audiences,” he said.

“It was our hope that Emancipation would be able to bring to life Peter’s triumphant story and unwavering faith and his deep love for his family,” Fuqua added.

Smith has a number of projects in development, though it’s unclear what will be his first movie to go into production since the Oscar clap.