Antoine Fuqua: There Was a 'Full Conversation' with Apple About Release of Will Smith Film Emancipation

Jon Kopaloff/Getty; ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Antoine Fuqua; Will Smith

Antoine Fuqua is opening up more about the decision to release Emancipation as planned.

Asked by Vanity Fair about releasing the film next month after star Will Smith's Oscars controversy in March, the director said, "It was always a full conversation with Apple."

"They were very sensitive to myself, to Will, to all the people who worked on the movie," explained Fuqua, 56.

According to the Training Day filmmaker, "There was never a conversation with me and Apple or my producers, Todd Black and Jon Mone or Heather Washington, about the movie not coming out."

"It was more about, 'We're assessing everything. We're seeing what people are saying.' They were very careful about it," Fuqua continued. "Then we showed the film to some people and their reactions were really positive, and we discussed it along the way."

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Apple TV+ Will Smith in Emancipation (2022)

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Fuqua directed the upcoming drama about a man who escapes slavery, which was filmed prior to the controversial moment when Smith, 54, hit Chris Rock in the face onstage at the Academy Awards on March 27.

Fuqua said the moment that unfolded live "didn't feel real to me at all" because he hadn't "met a nicer human being" before and noted that Smith was "kind to everyone on the set" of Emancipation.

"I saw a different person than that one moment in time, and so my reaction was that particular moment is very foreign to me when it comes to Will Smith," he explained. "I have nothing but amazing things to say about Will Smith, really genuinely. You can ask anybody that worked on the movie, they'll tell you the same. Nicest person I've ever met in my life."

"Chris Rock — I know Chris — Chris is a good guy too," Fuqua added. "I've spent time with Chris, and I think it's an unfortunate event and I hope we can move forward and get past it."

For Fuqua, his "conversation was always, 'Isn't 400 years of slavery, of brutality, more important than one bad moment?' " when it came to the film being released amid the fallout surrounding Smith's controversy with Rock, 57.

"We were in Hollywood, and there's been some really ugly things that have taken place, and we've seen a lot of people get awards that have done some really nasty things," Fuqua told Vanity Fair.

"So I think Apple considered all those things, and we discussed a lot of those things. Then a decision was made by the people in charge of distribution and the money at Apple — and I'm grateful, I'm really grateful," he added.

Smith has hosted several private screenings of Emancipation in recent weeks with various celebrities in attendances, including Rihanna, Tyler Perry, Jamie Foxx, Dave Chappelle, LeBron James and more.

Emancipation is set to debut in theaters Friday, then stream Dec. 9 on AppleTV+.