J Balvin Reveals Why He Brought Out Will Smith at Coachella After Oscars Slap

It’s been more than two years since the Oscars slap heard around the world, and J Balvin believes in forgiveness.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the Latin superstar opened up about bringing Will Smith out onstage with him during his headlining Coachella set earlier this year. “Will Smith has always been one of my biggest idols. Period. I feel really connected with him. You cannot judge a person for some mistakes,” he told the publication, referring to the backlash Smith faced after slapping Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscars ceremony, which led to a 10-year ban from the Academy. “A mistake cannot define who you are because if it’s like that, we all are bad.”

J Balvin continued, “[With] what happened with Will Smith, I felt his pain because I was going through a similar situation when I felt that some part of the world was against me for mistakes.”

The incident occurred after Rock made an onstage joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, during the Academy Awards ceremony. “Jada, I love you. G.I Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” the comedian said about her shaved head — which is caused by the actress’ struggles with alopecia.

The King Richard actor then slapped Rock onstage, who attempted to continue his banter before Smith began shouting from his seat, “Keep my wife’s name out your f—ing mouth.”

Balvin concluded, “My inner child was screaming to have him in my show because there was no one better than him […] I told him my vision. He said, ‘Give me a week.’ And I kept pressuring, man. I kept sending him pictures of me praying, until he called and said he was down, and it was a beautiful moment to see us together, man.”

During Balvin’s set, Smith made a surprise appearance dressed as his Men in Black character, Agent J, and proceeded to rap the iconic film’s theme song.