Will Smith admitted his fears that his infamous Oscars slap would jeopardise the success of his latest film, Emancipation.
The Hollywood actor, 54, made global headlines after storming the stage at the famous ceremony eight months ago and slapping comedian Chris Rock for a joke made towards Jada Pinkett Smith.
He received a 10-year ban from the Academy and resigned from the board after what they labelled "unacceptable and harmful behaviour".
But he has now opened up on his worries on how the incident will affect his future work, most notably his new production which is based on the true story of a slave known as 'Whipped Peter' whose scarred back photo showcased the cruelty of slavery to the world.
He confessed he is fearful his antics might have hurt the film's chances at bagging top awards as he is unable to pick up any future gongs.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the former Fresh Prince star said: "The only discomfort my heart has around that is that so many people have done spectacular work on this film.
"My hope is that my team isn't penalised at all for my actions. I think (director) Antoine (Fuqua) and (cinematographer) Robert (Richardson) and Ben (Foster) and Charmaine (Bingwa) — everyone has done such spectacular work."
He continued: "I definitely lose a couple winks of sleep every night thinking that I could have potentially penalised my team, but I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that everyone gets seen in the light that they deserve."
Following the incident, Will did eventually apologise to Chris for his actions, but his words weren't met with open arms.
In his first message a day after the ceremony, Will said: "Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable."
After explaining he took offence to jokes made about his wife, he issued a public apology and said he realised he had acted "out of line" and was embarrassed by how the night unfolded.
Several months later he addressed his actions again in an emotional video. In July, the actor shared another apology to say sorry to all of Chris' family after they had been hugely critical of him.
Will explained how he had needed time to work on himself and do some "personal work". He explained he hadn't initially said sorry as he was "fogged out", but wished to tell Chris he would apologise in person if he was ever given the chance.
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