Seems like DW is trying to do his own PR
I love pastor T.D. Jakes, whose Leadership Conference Denzel was at. (Tyler Perry was with T.D Jakes at a different event another time. And yes, Tyler Perry's faith runs deep and he does pray a lot.) So I went to see if I could find more of what was said and the full context of what Denzel said. It's obvious he says more than that, and he did. So did T.D. Jakes.
Here is the full section. This webpage wrote it all out:
"But Washington hadn’t talked about it until speaking with megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes at his annual International Leadership Conference, which was held in Charlotte, North Carolina this week.
“You stepped in the middle of World War Three,” said Jakes to begin his question about the slap. “We were looking at Ukraine and it happened on the Oscars, when Will, who I love, slapped Chris, who I love. You came in as the senior statesman to that situation.”
“These legends got into a fight in front of the world, what happened? It wasn’t really a fight, it was just one person slapping the taste out of the other one’s mouth,” said the pastor, as Washington smiled and the crowd laughed.
“Well, there’s a saying when the devil ignores you, then you know you’re doing something wrong,” said Washington. The crowd reacted and he said, “I’m not done now.”
“You know, the devil goes, ‘Oh no leave him alone, he’s my favorite’,” he said. “Conversely, when the devil comes at you, maybe it’s because you’re trying to do something right.”
“And for whatever reason, the devil got ahold of him, okay, of that circumstance that night,” he said of Smith.
“Fortunately there were people, not just me but others,” said Washington. “Tyler Perry came right immediately right over there with me, and — some prayers, you know. I don’t want to say what we talked about.”
He paused at that point before adding, “There but for the Grace of God go any of us. You know, who are we to condemn, you know?”
“I don’t know all the ins and outs of the situation, but I know the only solution was prayer, the way I see it,” he concluded.
Jakes said that the “embarrassing truth of all of that is this: you had a scandalous situation to happen at a momentous occasion. And then two or three icons who are senior statesmen, highly respected in the industry tweet about. I hate to hear people talk and tweet to people they could call on the phone.”
“And here we see actors acting more pastoral than some preachers do, than some church people do. Because we would’ve been so busy talking about it, nobody would’ve actually went to them and prayed with them. Really? And if you do go pray with somebody who’s in scandal, they may start talking about you!”
He then praised Washington for his leadership in the midst of all that happened, and he and the crowd gave a brief standing ovation for Washington, who reacted with characteristic humility. "
The web page also has a video of it. But, I found the sound rather muffled. It's better to read above first.
Then go HERE for the video clip.
TMZ reports, "Later in the panel interview, Denzel is reported to have talked about the idea of just sitting this one out -- to which he said ... no way, not on my watch."
DW described the moment right afterward, "I couldn't have sat in my seat. No way I could have sat in my seat. That's just not who I am." This was evident right away, because Denzel was photographed getting in between Chris and Will in the immediate aftermath.
As you may have guessed by now, Denzel is very religious ... often referencing his Christian faith."
Meh…I don’t watch Oprah interviews. They come off as phony…very contrived.
Denzel Washington!
