Tyler Perry is breaking his silence over the infamous 2022 Oscars slap.

After Best Actor winner Will Smith attacked presenter Chris Rock onstage after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s haircut, Perry and Oscar winner Denzel Washington were seen speaking with Smith in the audience. Now, almost three months later, Perry made it clear he was not comforting Smith but rather trying to further de-escalate a tense situation.

“There’s a difference between comforting and deescalating, that’s No. 1. And I left early to get to Chris to make sure he was okay,” Perry explained to Gayle King during Tribeca Film Festival’s Directors Series (via People). “Being friends with both of them has been very difficult.”

The “Gone Girl” actor clarified that Smith’s outburst was “wrong in no uncertain terms, and I made sure I said that to Will.”

Perry continued, “Trust me, as painful as...