Nia Long opens up about her long friendship with Will Smith who is banned from Oscars after slap

Nia Long is opening up about her long friendship with Will Smith. 

The 52-year-old actress co-starred with Will, 54, on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air back in the 90s as his fiancée Lisa and the two have remained friends ever since. 

In an interview with Yahoo’s Kevin Polowy on the Role Recall podcast, the NAACP Image Award winner talked about the how far the comic actor turned action star has come.

Friendship: Nia Long is opening up about her long friendship with Will Smith. ‘I love him and I will always love him.’ she said. ‘He’s had an incredible career’

‘I love him and I will always love him,’ she said. ‘He’s had an incredible career.’

Nia described Will as ‘a joyous person.’ 

Alluding the to the pressure of being a black man in Hollywood, the Life in a Year star said, ‘He’s carried a burden for many years to try to represent what perfection looks like or achievement looks like.

‘I don’t think that, at least when we were growing up, there was room to be human. And I think he’s now able to be human.’ 

Co-stars: Mia co-starred as Will’s fiancée Lisa in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1990s and the two have remained friends ever since

Interview: In an interview with Yahoo’s Kevin Polowy on the Role Recall podcast , the NAACP Image Award winner talked about the how far the comic actor turned action star has come

The King Richard actor’s Oscar win for Best Actor was tarnished last year when he slapped host Chris Rock after the comedian made a denigrating comment about wife Jada Pinkett’s shaved head. The actress suffers from the autoimmune condition alopecia, which can result in hair loss. 

As a result of the incident, which was televised around the world, Will resigned from the Academy and he is banned from attending the Oscars ceremonies for 10 years. 

The actor apologized for his action, saying in a video release in April, ‘There is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment. There’s no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults.’ 

Joyous: Nia described Will as ‘joyous’ and said she learned a lot about acting while starring on the hit sitcom

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The Slap: While not excusing the infamous slap at the 2022 Oscars, Nia said, ‘I think we all have our moments in life where we have to reconcile things that maybe we suppress. I think it’s hard growing up in this business and being front and center every day, all day’

While not excusing his actions, Nia said, ‘I think we all have our moments in life where we have to reconcile things that maybe we suppress. And I think it’s hard growing up in this business and being front and center every day, all day.’

The actress, who can be seen on Peacock in The Best Man: The Final Chapters and in You People, which streams on Netflix January 27, has had her shares of ups and down recently, including a public breakup with her former fiancé, Ime Ukoda, after 13 years together. 

‘You know, I’ve had some pretty devastating moments in my life over the last couple of months and I’ve had to just say, “It’s all right. You’ll pick yourself back up…” Oh my God, I’m about to cry. You pick yourself back up and you keep it moving.’ 

 Hard times: Nia has had her shares of ups and down recently, including a public breakup with her former fiancé, Ime Ukoda, after 13 years together. ‘I’ve had to just say, “It’s all right. You’ll pick yourself back up”‘ (Pictured in Beverly Hills in February 2017)