Will Smith told David Letterman months before hitting Chris Rock at the 94th Oscars that he feared for his career. The chat was taped two months before the tragedy. On Letterman's new Netflix show,
"My Next Guest Needs No Introduction," the "King Richard" star said he experimented with the South American hallucinogenic herb ayahuasca for two years. The herbal drink had him hallucinating, as he “saw” his “money, house, and career fly away,” Smith told Letterman.
Will continues telling Letterman that he couldn’t hear Willow calling out to him, which was the only thing he focused on. Elsewhere in the interview Smith detailed seeing his mother physically abused by his father. “And that just left a traumatic impression of myself as a coward,” said Smith.
The actor said he began using comedy as a “defense mechanism,” ironically Smith hit a comedian, which banned him from future Oscar events for ten years.