TMZSports.com
Will Smith was in a dark place after he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars, but he had a champion in his corner — the actor says Floyd Mayweather called him every day for 10-straight days after the incident, just to make sure he was doing okay.
Smith made the revelation during a private screening of his new “Emancipation” movie at The London hotel … and with Floyd in attendance, he took a moment to praise TBE for being there for him, even though they weren’t exactly best buds at the time.
“I want to say something also about Floyd,” Smith said in video obtained by TMZ Sports. “So, we’ve met each other, we’ve seen each other around, but we weren’t like, friends.”
“And, the day after the Oscars, for 10 days he called me every day,” Smith added. “And, he was like, ‘Ay, you know you the champ, right? You good? You know you the champ, right? I want you to hear my voice say it,'”
“That was every day he called me … and it’s like, that’s my dude forever right there.”
Smith has rarely spoken about the slapping incident — he only released an apology video back in July — so to hear him go into detail about the days following the incident is incredibly rare.
As for the film, Mayweather loved it.
“Emancipation captures an important time in history. The movie has me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire film,” Floyd tells us.
Producer Deon Taylor, Floyd’s partner on his upcoming docuseries, “The GOAT,” also spoke at the screening. Jona Rechnitz and James McNair, part of the production team, were also in the house for the viewing.
“Watching Emancipation film last night – the film was nothing short of amazing! The film touched so many parts of me as a black man in America… Will Smith is brilliant!! Every frame was Art!!!!!,” Deon says of the movie.