Will Smith Talks Reporter Kiss and Slap on Letterman

Posted by Evan Rodd on May 23, 2012 in Television | 28 comments

During a recent appearance on “The Late Show With David Letterman,” Will Smith addressed an incident that occurred at the Moscow premier of Men In Black III when a Ukrainian Reporter attempted to kiss him.

After the reporter, Vitalii Sediuk, got too close for comfort, Smith slapped him in the face and moved along with his interviews.

Sediuk seems to be the master of misconstrued acts of kindness. He presented Madonna with a bouquet of hydrangeas last fall, and we all know how Madonna feels about hydrangeas… This guy can’t catch a break with celebrities.

Despite Will Smith’s recent advocacy of same-sex marriage, he described the incident as “awkward.” From where I’m sitting, it looks like a simple kiss on the cheek, not a full-blown make out session. I wonder what Big Willy’s reaction would be if a female reporter tried the same move?

Do you think Will behaved appropriately? No matter what, was the backhand slap really necessary?

Anonymous

You know, just because somebody accepts LGBT people and advocates for their rights, doesn’t mean he wants to be kissed by one. Of course he wouldn’t react that way to a female reporter, because he’s not gay! Being an ally and being gay are not that same thing.

Phil Mata

mu_linlin7, you took the words out of my mouth. Will Smith shouldn’t have slapped Sediuk, and he did say that it was custom for people to kiss one another as a sign of respect. However, American customs are quite different from that, and Will was kissed not on the cheek but mouth by someone whom he did not know nor give consent. So yes, Will Smith is supportive of Marriage Equality, but he is also allowed to be uncomfortable with such direct affection from the same-sex, and vice-versa for homosexual people.

http://twitter.com/EvanRodd Evan Rodd

These are good points, but there are quite a few gay rumors surrounding Will Smith. Would he react the same way if he wasn’t involved with Scientology?

Thanks for your input! Maybe I need to post a follow up?

http://twitter.com/colibri_moko Petit Colibri

You’re right but I think that if it was a female reporter, he would’ve shoved her away gently, being the gentleman that he is.

http://twitter.com/jeffstarke James Starke

I’d be uncomfortable with anyone coming up to kiss me when I don’t know who they are.
Jacob Hubbell

I dont like to be kissed anywhere on my person by anyone off the street. I think Smith was totally justified in his response.
http://profile.yahoo.com/NFBHRF2UWZ6NVARUZ6O32WFFZM MP

Will Smith was wrong to be that vilolent to THE UK guy who maybe or may not be gay, he maybe just a UK person who’s hug and even kiss maybe one of those foreigner’s who greet others, fans of Will fuckhead smith.
I am not a fan of the GAY’s or Will Smith and i think less of Will Smith now more than ever, hitting his fan that way in public in the UK…. not every USA actors are as foul and would not treat Vitalii the UK reporter like that….
I as just me would hit a queer guy in America who would in public or not after putting a real GAY move like it might seem to be and i see Will Smith’s allowed the hugs as even niggers all do…. yes i said niggers, brother’s, yoe homies, home boi’s, you so cool guys who are put up on a pedistal big headed so called ACTOR’S from America…. over paid no talent’s like Will Smith who he play’s Will Smith very well….. no talent whether he play’s a drug cop in miami, or a cowboy, he play’s himself, sounds like himself, even mostly looks just like Will Smith the over paid no talent black from Hollywood, Ca….
Love to see what Vitalii from UK what’s his side and is he gay? Was it a gay move ?
Let’s see him on tv…. get a interveiw on his side of this… if he admits it was all a gay fan thing then i and some other’s are wrong. I hate alot of things gays have done to me in the past, but the worst GAY things i had gone thru was from the blacks, niggers that rob and rape, no talent rappers are sounding out rapers in our stupid country as this place is going to shit with these stupid no talents people in Hollywood and singers white, and blacks…. some blacks have talent, most let up do not…. it’s crap not rap’ rap is not singing musically it’s sounding out , talking your trash, your momma’s mouth, rapist shit …. pure trash ….
And i don’t want GAY same sex Marriage’s , not me they may…. I want to be only married to an opposite like women.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=752727735 Nik Davis

What?

You’re not a fan of “the gays”, and yet here you are. On a website called “Unicorn Booty”.
http://twitter.com/EvanRodd Evan Rodd

This entire comment is making my head explode, and not in a good way. Holy mother…
http://twitter.com/EvanRodd Evan Rodd

Never use derogatory racial slurs in the comments for one of my articles ever again.

http://profile.yahoo.com/DI4W54KXAHYKIPNUY5N64RA3DM Mike

Will is no ally. Once a homophobe always one
http://twitter.com/colibri_moko Petit Colibri

It was more of a back handed tap on the cheek than a slap really. It was a fair warning. The guy deserved. He had no right to that to anybody. A hug is a hug and that was all he was going to get, but he wanted more and he got what he deserved. There’s no need to link this to the LGBT community and the legalisation of gay marriage. WTF!!!
http://www.facebook.com/viwarrior Kyle Bromley

That was a Ryan Gosling slap. It’s not like he punched him out.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=779414011 Olivia Ochoa

I don’t think it has a THING to do with gender, nor homosexuality or gay rights. I am a Bisexual woman, and if a stranger suddenly ambushed me with a kiss when I wasn’t expecting it, male or female, I would have probably panicked and reacted the same way.
http://www.facebook.com/steveplittle Steve Patrick

Ah come on, in Europe everybody does the kiss on both cheeks thing. Will, get over it. At least his brief flirt with homosexual panic only led to a small slap, which, by the way, was completely inappropriate. The problem was that the greeting kiss was attempted while they were in the hug which probably made Will feel trapped. Still, you don’t slap people.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=688503368 Rob Robert

Its all fine and dandy but after he slapped him and walked away he told the next reporter he should have decked him. Which I believe is inciting violence against gays. I dont see what the big deal is Will played gay in at least one movie and has always given off the vibes he is.
http://www.facebook.com/wendy.beeker Wendy Beeker

Listen, someone kisses me, my husband is going to punch their lights out. Doesn’t matter if they’re straight or gay, what matters is YOUR BODY is YOURS and unwanted physical contact is not acceptable.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Lindsay-Beem/783975143 Lindsay Beem

You can’t really see it in that version but in other ones you can clearly see that it is a kiss on the mouth. And the slap was like a light little backhand. Sorry but if anyone I didn’t know, male or female, kissed me on the mouth and isn’t my boyfriend they’ll get more than a light slap on the face!
Anonymous

Would anyone be questioning it if it was a female celebrity being kissed by a male reporter? Will Smith’s body is his own and he gets to choose who gets to come into his space or not. The reporter didn’t ask for consent and Will Smith was well within his rights. I would have slapped him to.
http://www.facebook.com/cassie.dooley Cassie Dooley

It didn’t seem like he was violent or anything. I mean, the reporter didn’t get knocked on his ass, and the slap didn’t seem too hard, so I don’t think Will was out of line. He was smiling and hugging, didn’t seem to be freaked out over the kiss on the cheek, and then the dude went for his mouth and Will reacted the same way almost any other American would when being kissed by a stranger.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=659909775 Sierra Vail

I would hardly call it a “slap.” And mu_linlin7 is absolutely correct, just because he is an ally doesn’t mean he wants to be kissed by a guy.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000000370527 Charles Boykin

I don’t even like Will that much. But, if it were me, I probably would have NOT have slapped the guy. And it was more like nudge to his cheek, NOT a slap. It’s just publicity and it WORKED!
http://www.facebook.com/mtpruitt Maria T Pruitt

If it was a female actor and a male surprise kisser – would we care if she slapped him? Will Smith has a right to stop anyone from touching his body in a way that he doesn’t want.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1563870020 Brendan Michael Lane

Isnt that guy the one that french kisses celebrities just for a reaction? It sucks that it gives the LGBT community a bad look.
http://twitter.com/DrDarkheart Doc Tyler.

From the video you can easily see that he started with a kiss on the cheek and than moved to the mouth and that’s when he moved away and pushed him off. Honestly I’d have shoved the guy on his ass for that but Will obviously has a better control of his temper than me.
Ariel B. Dreamfalling

My first question is the reporter even gay? Second it’s the Ukraine. Countries have different customs when greeting people. Perhaps the reporter was just trying to be as welcoming as possible. Ally or not I think Will overreacted. It didn’t look like the reporter was trying to make out with him. What bothers me most is that he was being disrespectful to someone from another country in which he himself is a guest. This makes me dislike him even more than I already do.

Ariel B. Dreamfalling

Correction a Ukrainian reporter in Moscow. Still it’s the idea that an American celebrity rather than be a gracious guest in a foreign land (of which he is not a citizen) can’t be a good sport no matter how “awkward” he claims the situation to be.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002716010948 Spectra Says

Was it really a serious slap though? It was like a pop, I would say its worth the reaction given they were in public, it’s rude and disrespectful, get off me.

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