I was sickened. I was sickened by the standing ovation. I felt like Hollywood is just spineless on mass.
And uh it just [music] it really felt like, oh, this is a really clear indication that we're not the cool club anymore. When the devil comes at you, maybe it's because you're trying to do something right. [music] And for whatever reason, the devil got a hold of him that of that circumstance that that night.
And fortunately, there were people there, not just me, but others in the gap. Tyler Perry came right immediately right [clears throat] over there. That there's nothing funnier than a black guy in a dress.
Okay. Well, I watched all of my friends throughout my entire life be able to dunk a basketball, [music] but not me. So, everybody can't do everything.
So, you know, some of us make choices. [music] I think it's not a biggest choice um for others. I'm saying um at the end of the day, Kevin doesn't have to worry about what people are going to say about him wearing a dress because of the long line of dressw wearing [music] people before him.
Denzel Washington has spent four decades being the most respected man in Hollywood, the kind of actor actors go quiet around. So when a wave of videos started claiming he sat down somewhere and named a list of people he cannot stand, including Will Smith and Tyler Perry, it spread fast. People wanted to believe it because it sounds like exactly the kind of blunt nononsense thing Denzel would say.
But here is the problem. There is no actual interview, no podcast clip, no red carpet moment where that conversation happened. What does exist is something more interesting than what we think is in the list.
There is a real documented thread [music] of tension running through Denzel's circle for years involving Will Smith, Tyler Perry, Jada Pinket Smith, and even Chris Rock. And none of it needed to be invented. It is sitting in plain sight in actual interviews, actual award show footage, and actual podcast appearances.
So, instead of repeating a rumor that does not hold up, we are going to walk through what is actually on the record. Starting with the moment that brought several of these names into the same room at once. The night Will Smith hit Chris Rock.
The 2022 Oscars gave us one of the strangest nights in award show history and Denzel Washington [music] ended up right in the middle of it without throwing a single word in public. After Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage over a joke about Jada Pink at Smith, the cameras cut away during the break, but reports from people in the room described Danzel walking over to Smith and quietly talking to him. Variety and several other outlets later confirmed that Tyler Perry was right there, too.
Both men trying to calm Smith down before he had to walk back up and accept his award. then went on a [music] profane tirade warning Chris not to mention his wife's name. Jada couldn't believe what she was hearing.
She says that's because two years earlier Jada discussed what she called an entanglement on her show Red. So that was from her point of view and she says that there was bad blood between Chris Rock and uh Will from before. But she said she actually thought it was like a bit [music] because she said she watched them storm up and Will had been up and down throughout the Oscars [music] and then um you know no one asked them to leave.
No one said you got I feel like I don't understand it at all. I still don't. They hadn't been together for seven years at that point, [music] right?
Or whatever six five six seven years and then she's shocked cuz he's like don't talk about my wife that way and [music] she's like well cuz she was Yeah. Well, he invited her because he thought this was his crowning moment in Hollywood and he wanted her there even though they weren't together. Yeah.
She was a part of his so she and then for him to say my wife I think that surprised her and then it was a ripple effect. But none of that matters when it triggers violence. I mean at the end of the day like Will hit Chris that's and I think she she sort of felt like she was the heavy.
If you watch Will's acceptance speech, [music] he says, you know, as he's crying, he says, "The things we do for love. " As as if that's what protecting her. It kind of puts it on her.
Will himself confirmed it during his acceptance speech, telling the audience that Denzel had pulled him aside and said something that stuck with him, a line about being careful [music] at your highest moment, because that is exactly when things tend to fall apart. It was not a takedown or an exposure, but it was an older actor doing what older actors in that industry sometimes do. Stepping in before a younger one made things worse for himself.
If Denzel actually disliked Will Smith the way these rumors suggest, that night gave him a stage and a reason to walk away. Instead, he did the opposite and stayed close. That single moment tells you more about the real relationship than any fabricated quote ever could.
And it sets up exactly why the rest of this story is more complicated than a simple hate list. [snorts] Why didn't you apologize to Chris in your acceptance [music] speech? Um, Will Smith's image took a hit that night that he is still working to repair years later.
And the fallout went far beyond one award show. The Academy banned him from their events for a decade. His next film got delayed and for months it felt like every interview he gave circled back to that single moment on stage.
What gets left out of the version where Denzel supposedly hates him is the fact that Denzel has spoken publicly on multiple occasions about mentoring younger black actors in Hollywood. And Smith's name comes up in those conversations [music] as someone he has watched grow. Smith has talked openly about looking up to Denzel since he was young.
long before either of them were the names they are now. Now to a GMA TV exclusive. The video of Oscar winner Denzel Washington speaking out for the first time about Will Smith's assault on Chris Rock during the Oscars.
ABC's Phil Lipoff joins us now with more. Phil, good morning. Gio, good morning to you.
It's safe to say everybody has an opinion about what Will Smith did a week ago at the Oscars. The consensus seems to be it was wrong on a number of levels. The man who went to speak to Smith during the show just after the slap agrees Smith was wrong.
But Denzel Washington immediately chose to look beyond what Smith did and focus on why he did it. Who are we to to to condemn? This morning in a Good Morning America exclusive.
We are hearing from Denzel Washington, one of the first people to [music] speak to Will Smith just minutes after that now infamous slap at the Oscars. [music] When the devil comes at you, maybe it's because you're trying to do something right and for whatever reason, the devil got a hold of him that of that circumstance. Speaking to Bishop TD Jake at his International Leadership Summit Saturday, 11,000 people in attendance.
The Oscar winner revealing how he leaned on his faith when he and Tyler went to speak to Smith. I don't know all the ins and outs of this situation, but uh I know the only solution was prayer. I don't want to say what what we talked about, but um be very but for the grace of God.
Go any of us. Bishop Jake telling ABC News what Smith did was wrong, but what Washington and Perry did just after was necessary. I think that they sense that there was trauma involved and that there was pain involved.
And sometimes pain parades itself as anger. The conversation of faith so impactful minutes later, Smith mentioned it as he accepted the Oscar for best actor. Thank you.
Denzel said to me a few minutes ago, he said, "At your highest moment, be careful. That's when the devil comes for you. " The speech followed by a standing ovation and then a week of controversy which included Smith resigning from the academy, a public apology to Rock and how the academy handled or mishandled the incident.
All of it fallout from this. The moment that stunned millions around the world. Oh wow.
A weak moment, says Bishop Jake. Something we all have. Something he says we all would want forgiveness for if cameras were following us around all the time.
If we were on live television, we would all have moments that we would like to have edited out of our lives. And the only way to edit those moments out of our lives from a spiritual perspective is to repent and pray and learn from it and grow from it and be a better person because of it. Basically, Bishop Jake says he's talking about empathy and understanding.
This morning, he says he wants people to think about they would what they would be hoping for if they were Will Smith this morning. Sure, there have been and there will be more consequences for the Oscar winner, but when this is over, Bishop Jake says a little prayer and a little introspection could really help. Guys, fascinating conversation, Phil.
Thank you. Hollywood relationships rarely are, especially among people competing for similar roles for decades. But respect and friction are not the same as hatred.
and turning every bit of industry tension into a manufactured beef does a disservice to what is actually a much longer, more layered relationship. The slap herd around the world became a symbol for a lot of things. Career [music] consequences, public accountability, the fragility of image, but a secret rivalry with Denzel Washington was never one of them based on anything either man has actually said.
Moving on, Tyler Perry occupies a strange spot in Hollywood. He built the first major blackowned film studio in the country. He has made an enormous fortune and he has also taken some of the heaviest criticism of any filmmaker working today over how he portrays black characters, especially black women in his films.
That criticism is not new and it is not quiet. Tyler Perry allegedly wanted booty. Derek Dixon allegedly wanted his own show.
The only problem art is what? The only person who has something to lose was Tyler Perry. The only Smokeoky Robinson.
The only person who has something to lose was Smokeoky Robinson. [music] Shannon Sharp. The only person who has something to lose was Shannon Sharp.
Gabrielle Zuniga was our only fans model. Stop dating [music] women outside your race. And if you're going to date women outside your race, make sure Art they have as much to lose as you do.
Tyler Perry should have found him. If he's into that, I'm not going to say the man is homosexual. If he is bisexual, he should have found somebody who has as much to lose as he does in the entertainment [music] world and he would have avoided all this.
They dating down art. They are dating down thinking they going to drop these people when [music] they tired of messing with them. It ain't going to happen.
You worth too much. Because at the end of the day, every black person in this country art is nothing more than [music] an opportunity and a tool. I don't care who you are.
I don't care where you are. I don't care how much money you have. [music] Black people were brought here as objects to be exploited.
And we are [music] still objects to be exploited. And the minute you forget that you're nothing but an object or an opportunity to Gabrielle Zuniga for Mexican immigrants, okay? or to Tyler Perry in the case of Derek Dixon.
They going to remind you who you are and they're going to remind you who they are. The text we see online, them real text, right? The ones that leaked online from the lawsuit.
No, I believe they real. I believe they real because in the lawsuit, they have [music] some of the text message listed. Now, here's the here's the interesting thing, though, Arc.
Smokey Robinson is counter suing. Fat Joe is counter suing. Who else did we talk about a minute ago?
Fat Joe is counter suing. [music] Smoky Robinson is counter suing. And Tyler Perry.
It does. No, no, no. It don't look like Tyler Perry is counter suing.
He might be, but I didn't see anything. And the reason why I asked you if the chicks is real is because I mean, if they real Yeah. Yeah.
Tyler Perry is gay, man. I mean, [music] he made it known in them texts that, you know, he in them in They both consented. They both consented.
[music] You know, I don't agree with samesex relationships. If Tyler Perry into that, that's him. We all know the childhood he been through.
It can breed that type of pathology. But to me, this was a consensual relationship [music] that was mutually beneficial and mutually exploitative. That's how I If I'm on the jury, if I'm on the jury, Tyler Perry's relationship with Derek Dixon was mutually exploitative, mutually beneficial.
Neither one of them are in the right, neither one of them are in the wrong. If everything stated is true. That's how I'm looking at that.
He You still got put on. You still got paid. You still got famous.
You feel me? You were taken care of. not to the point you wanted to be, but you were still taken care of.
I think it was mutually beneficial and mutually exploitative. You see, now he never accused Tyler Perry of flatout sexually assaulting [music] him with the R. You feel me?
To me, it just looked like a lot of a lot of butt cheek grabbing is what I saw. A lot [music] of thigh rubbing. You feel me?
Like nowhere did I read he held me down and forcibly penetrated [music] me. I don't see that nowhere. I'm seeing a bunch of butt smacking, butt grabbing.
He pulled his underwear down. You still stayed on the job. Come on, Art.
Come on, man. This is This is consensual. It's [music] consensual.
Same thing with Smokeoky Robinson and the Four Mexicans. Come on now. You keep coming back and forth to work for 18 years, 12 years, 6 years, 1 year.
In 2024, Perry addressed it directly on a podcast, pushing back [music] against critics he called highbrow, arguing that his audience is made up of working people who do not have the time or money for the kind of polished, prestige storytelling that wins awards. The comment sparked real backlash online with people accusing him of dismissing legitimate criticism rather than engaging with it. This is the actual source [music] tension surrounding Tyler Perry.
An ongoing public debate about representation and storytelling, [music] not a secret feud with Denzel Washington. Interestingly, Perry was also one of the people who stepped in to comfort Will Smith on Oscars' night, standing right next to Denzel during that moment. If there really was bad blood between Perry and Denzel, that backstage moment would have been an odd place for both of them to show up for [music] the same person.
The honest picture is that Perry has built something massive. faces real criticism for it and still moves in the same circles as the people rumors claim he is at war with. If you want a real quote involving Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry in the same sentence, this is the one that actually exists.
Chris Rock once spoke to Vibe magazine about Tyler Perry's Ma character and he made it clear he respected what Perry had built but did not want to see actors like Denzel Washington or Will Smith following [music] that same path. His exact concern was about representation, pointing out how a few major films center black men and worrying about what it would mean if more of them leaned [music] into that particular comedic style instead of the dramatic roles Denzel and Will were known for. In that same conversation, Rock praised Perry's business instincts and said he wanted to see more black women writing, producing, and directing their own stories instead of relying on any one person to carry that responsibility.
This was not rock attacking Perry personally. It was a comedian thinking out loud about representation in an industry that still does not offer black actors and directors many lanes to work in. So tell me, Tyler, what has been your most memorable Halloween?
Uh I, you know, we didn't have much money, so I remember having a costume and putting it on and you know, was something I made in the house and it was a sheet and I go outside in this black neighborhood. My mother's like, "You look like the KKK. Go take that off.
" And that that was it. Hey partner, I got this sister of mine that I I've been wanting dead for a long time. You think you can help me with that?
My dear boy, I did help your brother. Yeah, I know you dead now. Well, look at me in the daylight.
Praise him. So, tell me, how much of your personality goes into Mad's character? [music] How much of Tyler Perry goes into that?
Yeah, there's there's a lot of me inside of her, but but but I get it mostly from my mother and my aunt that those women, they were out of control. So, so a lot of more of them are in her than I am, but there's a lot. Did Madia get any um directing credits this this time around?
No. No. I'm I I can't let her direct anything.
It would be a mess. Why? She doesn't know what she's doing.
She's she's a star who wants to be behind the camera. She doesn't think she should I mean, in front of the camera. She doesn't think she should be behind the camera.
Okay. So, Uncle Joe. Mhm.
[music] Everybody has a crazy unfiltered uncle like him. Yeah. But what are your thoughts on sort of how some woman might perceive like his pimp hole narrative?
It it listen it is what it is and and I can't worry about these characters being politically correct because they are just what they are big funny and silly and he definitely in in in his backstory he was a pimp from back in the day. Mhm. So um how much of your family life is incorporated in this movie?
Cuz there's a big lesson to learn especially kids. [music] You know you should always listen to your parents. Right.
Do you get inspiration from like your son? I I think I think that's where I'm going. But he's so young right now, you know.
I can I can He's in his terrible twos. But but he's he's young, but when he gets older, I'm sure I'm sure that's what I'm thinking about. Um what what do you think Media would tell Trump would advise him?
I think Eminem said it all. I think Eminem said it all. But but Medadia is a lot like Trump in the sense that she she says what's on her mind.
She doesn't think about it. She doesn't care. Just that's exactly what great for a character in the movie but not necessarily so for a president.
What do you think Madia would like to be at for Halloween? She's going to be a Vega showgirl. A Vegas show girl.
All right. How outfit going to look like? [laughter] Come on, Tyler.
It's uh it's sequenced and see-through and feathers and with some 60s heels. It is also worth noting Rock made these comments years before the Oscars slap, [music] long before his own name became permanently tied to Will Smith's in headlines. The quote got recycled constantly in recent years, often stripped of context and reattached to whatever rumor was trending that week, including the fake Denzel hate list.
Anyway, Jada Pinket Smith has spent years as one of the most talked about figures connected to this entire circle of names, partly because of her own public revelations about her marriage, and partly because of how often she gets pulled into stories that have nothing directly to do with her. After the Oscar slap, her name became attached to nearly every follow-up story, even ones where she said nothing at all. The Ma joke that started the whole incident was about her, not about Will Smith [music] and not about Denzel.
Yet somehow she ends up mentioned in these recycle rumor videos as [music] part of some larger falling out involving people she has limited public history with. There is no documented conflict between Jada and Denzel Washington anywhere in the record. There is a natural psychological [music] tendency to grow apart.
Will and Jada have been together for a minute [music] now. It may very well be a situation where he has outgrown her and she may have outgrown him. I know when most people think of [music] marriage from a religious perspective, it comes with a narrative that you're going to stay together forever.
As a psychologist, I don't necessarily endorse that view [music] because if you met each other at a certain point in life, it should be acceptable or at least understandable that two people can grow apart. From what I've heard, they do not have a prenuptual agreement. If that is true, that Will does not have a prenuptual agreement, that helps to understand [music] everything that's transpiring.
I believe the reason he's still with her at this point, is to safeguard his estate, [music] which he should. And I think the reason why she's being so disrespectful, blatantly disrespectful, bringing up Tupac's [music] proposal. Why is that coming up now?
Saying Chris Rock tried to hit on her. Why is that being said to the public after this man and your husband got into an altercation [music] at the Emmys? From what it looks like on the outside looking in, and I have nothing against [music] Jada at all.
Obviously, I'm a Will Smith fan. Only actor in American history to garner 10 consecutive number one box office [music] hits. Nobody has ever done that.
not even Denzel. Will Smith is the only actor [music] to do that in American history. And on top of that, he's the first uh rapper to win a Grammy.
So, his place in history is etched solid. And I just think it's an unfortunate situation because he been through a [music] lot of things in his life. I never met him personally, but obviously he came out with [music] the book detailing his situation.
I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but of course, I [music] get the reports from it. And I just think it's unfortunate what's going on because on the one hand, you have a man who doesn't want to get took to the cleaners by a woman who really didn't help him build his brand [music] or his name. And on the other hand, you have a woman who says to herself, arguably, I gave you two children.
[music] I was here for the journey. Although I may not have had anything to do directly with [music] your success, I was still your emotional comfort. I was still your wife, your confidant, [music] your partner.
And I think she wants out the marriage. And I just think she's going at it in a very dysfunctional [music] way. I think she's trying to embarrass him into divorcing her.
That's what I think is going on. I saw [music] a clip where they were being interviewed and someone said something to the effect of marriage or divorce. I forget the question or the comment, but Jade [music] responded by saying, quote, "It is cheaper to keep her.
" I think they said, "Why are you two still together? " And it was in a joking way. They weren't being uh there was no animosity.
They were not being adversarial. Uh it wasn't even a serious conversation. It was very laidback and [music] relaxed in a joking dialogue.
But the person said, "Why are you guys still together? " And Jada Pinket [music] Smith's response was, "It's cheaper to keep her. " He didn't say that.
She said it. And I think that speaks to the fact that there was no prenuptual agreement. Wow, man.
So, you think she's making all these comments intentionally [music] hoping that he'll divorce her? Absolutely. If you're not going to let me out of this marriage and give me half of what [music] I feel I'm entitled to because that's, you know, the American way.
women get half of the mans of state [music] even if they didn't help him build it. And no disrespect to Jada, there's a very strong possibility that she helped Will get to where [music] he is. Uh I really can't see how because he was always talented.
I remember going to a Will Smith [music] concert right here in Philadelphia down at the Spectrum. It was Will Smith new edition was the headliners. [music] It was Will Smith Jazzy Jeff Rock saying Shante UTFO.
I was a young blood back then and I still remember Will when he was a rapper [music] on stage and once he went to Fresh Prince and then Independence Day and all those movies that I mean he [music] was just a hit. The man was a hit. Every movie he put out, you know, garnered billions of dollars at the box office.
So, but again, I want to be respectful to her. [music] You know, that's a marriage. There's some things behind the scenes that we don't know about where she could probably argue that [music] she played a significant role, you know, in his development as an actor.
I don't know. Or as a businessman, [music] but from the outside looking in as a Philadelphiaian, I don't see that. And I really just feel it's a situation where he's not going to give up half of what he has [music] and she's going to continue to antagonize him with the belief that if he [music] if she gets on his nerves enough, he might let her out of the arrangement.
What does exist is her own openness about struggles within her marriage, discussed in her memoir and in interviews, which [music] is a separate and much more personal story that deserves to be talked about on its own terms rather than folded into a fake celebrity feud compilation. [music] It says a lot about how these content mills work that a woman's name keeps getting attached to manufactured drama just because she happens to be connected to bigger names through marriage or through one unfortunate joke. at an award show.
The actual story involving Jada is about her own choices and her own words, not a secret grudge from Denzel Washington. There is a pattern here worth pointing out directly. Search for almost any respected older actor's name [music] next to the phrase reveals who he hates and you will find a cluster of videos using the exact same format.
[music] Different famous names dropped in depending on who is trending that week. Denzel is not the only target. Samuel L.
Jackson has had similar videos made claiming he secretly despises Tyler Perry built around a quote comparing Perry to a controversial music mogul that does not trace back to any actual interview anyone can point to. But there was a lot made of the and and I know you you may say or a lot of people would say they don't want to get into it, but it's a perfect transition with some of the things that you said about Tyler Perry because a lot of people would say, "Well, Tyler Perry is someone who is opening doors potentially for opportunities that Hollywood would have normally passed on and you were pretty tough on on Tyler. " My man, my man.
My man. Yeah, you were. Three, my man.
Three, my man. I'm my man. Four.
I have never ever said that Tyler [music] Perry was not a great businessman. I never ever said that Tyler Perry did not provide many jobs for people of color. And in fact, me and Ty Perry Perry are cool.
So there's no beef between us. It's been, you know, supposed beef between us. Him him and I were together.
Is [music] there's no absolute static or ill feelings between me and Tyler Perry. You just took exception. I think the quote was you took exception with the content of some of his films.
Yes. But that I made that statement like almost five years ago. But here's the thing, Spike.
And and I I take exception with his show that he does on the radio and we might get on the radio and we might get on the radio and cy, but we're all cool and there's a mutual respect. I think because you're Spike Lee and because your brand, the Spikeley brand, the 4acres in a mule brand, [music] has been synonymous with um uh uh social commentary through film, right? Or uh you know, taking issue with you know, someone who's doing buffoonery and coonery.
Um I think that when you come out and speak, it's automatically assumed that you're taking exception to someone when you're really just providing your opinion. Well, when I do say stuff like that, When I do say stuff like that, I always say I'm [music] not speaking on behalf of anybody but myself. I never ever ever said I'm speaking on behalf of 45 million African-Americans.
I said I say this is my opinion and my opinion alone. These videos work because the real people involved, Denzel, Smith, Perry, Jackson, Jada, are all genuinely connected through decades of overlapping projects, friendships, and the occasional real tension, [music] which makes a fabricated beef feel believable, even when it is not. The honest version of this story is less dramatic, but more interesting.
It is about an industry full of talented people who have helped each other. Occasionally clashed over created direction and still show up for one another when it actually counts. Like that night backstage at the Oscars.
Manufacturing hatred between them flattens a much richer reality into something cheap and easy to click on. And it does a disservice to everyone involved, including the audience that ends up believing something that never happened. When you strip away the fake quotes and the recycled clickbait titles, what is left is a far more human story than any invented hate list could give you.
Denzel Washington shows up for Will Smith on the worst night of his career instead of walking away. Tyler Perry stands right next to him doing the same thing. Chris Rock criticizes a creative choice while still respecting the man who made it.
Jada gets dragged into headlines that were never really about her at all. None of it is as simple as villains and enemies. And honestly, that is what makes it worth talking about.
The entertainment industry runs on relationships that are messy, layered, and built over decades, not on tidy lists of who hates who. The next time a video promises to expose some shocking [music] secret feud between two respected actors, it is worth asking where that quote actually came from and whether anyone can point to the moment it was said. So, with all of that laid out, do you think audiences are drawn to these fake feud videos because they genuinely believe them or because the truth about how these stars actually treat each other just is not dramatic enough to hold our attention?
Let us know what you think in the comments below. If you like this video, hit that subscribe button so that you never miss out on any new videos. And until then, fam, keep it real.
