Will Smith brought his Ali co-star Paul Rodriguez a “nightmare” after harassing him with his jokes and “nasty remarks” on set.
The Mexican-American actor also blamed the King Richard star for his career downfall saying his management company let him down because of Smith’s stunts
However, despite everything Smith put him through, Rodriguez still doesn’t blame him, hoping he’s learned his lesson from the infamous Oscar slap.
“Look, I don’t get any joy from seeing him go through this, but maybe he’ll have a lot of compassion for what he put me through because it’s a horrible thing to be the target of the kidding,” Rodriguez according to The Sun.
“After he made me the butt of all his jokes and nasty remarks about Ali, people didn’t want to hang out with me anymore,” he added. “It was like the word got out and I had leprosy all of a sudden.”
Speaking about how his career has suffered since starring in the biographical sports drama, Rodriguez said, “This movie was supposed to be one of the biggest and most wonderful breaks in my career, but it’s had a nightmare and it all went downhill from there: I was let go by my management company and couldn’t find a worthy agent.
But after all Smith has done with him, Rodriguez had nothing but good wishes for him: “Even though everything he’s put me through, I feel sorry for Will Smith; the price he’s going to owe to pay is almost greater than the crime.”
“He was one of the biggest stars in the world, and all that affection people had for him turned into apathy, all for a moment of stupidity,” he said before adding that ‘He thinks his Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, is also responsible for the slap.
“I think he’s suffered enough and deserves redemption, but the real villain here is his wife, Jada,” he said, speculating that Pinkett-Smith was the one who ” ordered the hit” on Chris Rock.
“I think people watched that clip and realized the real bad guy wasn’t the hitman but the person who paid for it, you know?” he noted.