“I completely understand. If someone is not ready, I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready,” Smith replied. “My deepest concern is my team – Antoine has done what I think is the greatest work of his entire career.”
He added: “The people on this team have done some of the best work of their entire careers, and my deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalise my team.“At this point, that’s what I’m working for. I’m hoping that the material – the power of the film, the timeliness of the story – I’m hoping that the good that can be done would open people’s hearts at a minimum to see and recognise and support the incredible artists in and around this film.”
Emancipation is ready to be launched on Apple TV+ on December 9.