Will Smith opened up in David Letterman’s new season of his Netflix show “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” and he reminisced about the time that his father hit his mother and he did nothing about it.
Will Smith: I felt like a 'coward' when I didn't defend my mom from dad's abuse https://t.co/mO5jZlb6SY pic.twitter.com/KDbEzomoJc
— New York Post (@nypost) May 24, 2022
After David Letterman left the Late Show he went to Netflix and made a series of interviews with a completely different tone, way more personal and intimate, although some of them were recorded in front of a live audience, that is until the pandemic hit.
My Next Guest in Pandemic Times
When audiences attended the recording of the show, they would not know who the guest would be, making it a complete and utter surprise, that all changed dunring the Covid-19 pandemic, and it gave a twist to a more intimate show interviewing guests in their own space, and city.
Guests open up
When Letterman would go to their home there was a different dynamic, under this mantle he interviewed Dave Chappelle, Lizzo, Rick Rubin, Robert Downey Jr. and most recently Will Smith.
The show was recorded before the Oscars
Will Smith was interviewed before the infamous slap, however, he spoke about his upbringing and his relationship to his family, including his mother Caroline Bright.
“Don’t say nothin’ ’bout my mother, Dave,” Smith jokingly sentenced Letterman
“The episode was recorded prior to the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony,” a PSA title appeared before the show started.
He opened about his childhood and his parents
“The first line of the first chapter is, ‘I’ve always thought of myself as a coward,'” Smith told. “When I was 9 years old, I saw my father beat up my mother, and I didn’t do anything. And that just left a traumatic impression of myself as a coward.”
He spoke about protecting family
“Life is so exciting to me right now, because I can reach people differently than I’ve ever been able to reach people, largely because of my pain,” he said. “I’m really ready to dive into my art in a way that I think will be hopefully fulfilling for me and helpful for the human family.”
Beyond the essentials of protecting yourself and your family,” Letterman interrupted
You can’t protect your family, right? “That’s not real. Protection and safety are an illusion. You have to learn to live with the reality that any moment, anything can be gone in one second.”
