Will Smith broke down in tears as he spoke about his nephew's response to him slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars back in March.
The 54-year-old Hollywood actor made global headlines after storming on stage at the star-studded ceremony and slapping 57-year-old Chris over a joke the comedian made about Jada Pinkett Smith.
Will issued an apology for the incident on Monday night and admitted it was 'horrific' having to explain his actions to his nine-year-old nephew.
"My nephew Dom is nine and he’s the sweetest little boy. We came home and he had stayed up late to see his Uncle Will.
"We’re sitting in my kitchen, and he’s on my lap and he’s holding the Oscar, and he’s just like, 'Why did you hit that man, Uncle Will?'," the actor admitted during an appearance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Will started crying and had to dry his eyes with a tissue.
Host Trevor joked: "Dammit. Why are you trying to Oprah me?"
The Men In Black star blamed "bottled up rage" for his decision to slap Chris and said he understands the outrage from fans and fellow celebrities.
"That was a horrific night, as you can imagine. There's many nuances and complexities to it, but at the end of the day I just, I lost it.
"I understand how shocking that was for people. I was gone. That was a rage that had been bottled up for a really long time," he said.
Quizzed further about what caused the outburst, Will said: "It was a lot of things.
"It was the little boy that watched his father beat up his mother, you know? And all of that just bubbled up in that moment."
He insisted that was "not who I want to be" and suggested there was more to the incident behind-the-scenes.
"You just never know what somebody’s going through. I was going through something that night, not that that justifies my behaviour at all," Will added.
He insisted people have "got to be nice to each other" and added it was "painful" to see he had hurt other people.
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@mirror.co.uk or call us direct at 0207 29 33033.
