Zoë Kravitz has revealed that she harbors some regret over criticizing Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal.
The actress, who will soon make her directorial debut with the film Pussy Island, told the daily newspaper that she wished she "had handled that differently. And that's okay."
Kravitz was initially vocal on social media about the infamous Oscars incident, which saw Smith storm on stage to slap Rock in the face after the comedian made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith.
In a now-deleted post, the Big Little Lies star uploaded an image of herself to Instagram in the outfit she wore at the Oscars.
"Here's a picture of my dress at the show where we are apparently assaulting people on stage now," the actress wrote in the caption, impliedly denouncing Smith's behavior.
The comedian's joke appeared to poke fun of Pinkett-Smith's alopecia, with Rock calling her "G.I. Jane." This was a reference to the 1997 film, G.I. Jane, which stars Demi Moore as a Navy Lieutenant. Moore had shaved her head completely for the role which, at the time, made headlines.
Following the fallout from the incident, Smith was banned from the Oscars for 10 years.
Kravitz's post stirred up a little drama, with one Instagram user asking her: "You don't support him defending his wife?" The actress replied: "Nope."
After experiencing more criticism from social media users, Kravitz made the decision to delete the post.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal about the backlash, the actress stated: "It's a scary time to have an opinion or to say the wrong thing or to make controversial art or statements or thoughts or anything."
"It's mostly scary because art is about conversation. That should, in my opinion, always be the point. The internet is the opposite of conversation. The internet is people putting things out and not taking anything in," Kravitz added.
"I think I'm in a place right now where I don't want to express myself through a caption or a tweet. I want to express myself through art," the 33-year-old concluded.
Earlier this month, Will Smith posted a video to his 63.8 million Instagram followers, apologizing to Chris Rock for his actions.
The 52-year-old, who said he tried to reach out to Rock ahead of his public apology, stated: "My behavior was unacceptable and I'm here whenever you're ready to talk [...] I'm trying not to think of myself as a piece of s***."
"There's no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults," the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor added.
As for Kravitz, who wishes to leave the negativity in the past, her latest film project, Pussy Island, recently began filming.
It is set to star Channing Tatum (whom Kravitz is now dating) and will be focused on "the treatment of women, specifically in industries that have a lot of money in them," per IndieWire.