Marlon Wayans Says He's 'Not Afraid' of Will Smith, Chris Rock Seeing Comedy Special About Oscars Slap

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Marlon Wayans is explaining why he didn't reach out to Will Smith and Chris Rock about his new HBO Max comedy special God Loves Me, which revolves around the pair's infamous incident at last year's Oscars.

While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the special's Thursday release, Wayans, 50, explained that while he spoke with both Smith, 54, and Rock, 58, in the initial aftermath of the incident, he chose not to ask for their insight once he actually began working on the new stand-up routine.

"In their art, they don't ask me, 'What do you think of this?' " Wayans said, when asked whether he contacted either men. "I think as artists, we all do what we do. Especially because it's such a sensitive subject, I didn't want their opinions."

"I just hope they gauge and trust that I love them. That I'm being objective," the White Chicks star added of his approach to the topic. "I'm being honest. I'm being real. And that the purpose of this is more healing than it is deconstruction."

RELATED: Will Smith Returns to Awards Stage in Person for First Time After Oscars Slap to Accept AAFCA Honor

Robyn Beck/getty Chris Rock and Will Smith at the Oscars on March 27, 2022.

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Elsewhere in the interview, Wayans explained that he "loves" Smith and Rock, as well as Jada Pinkett Smith, and that he is not "coming as an enemy" for them with his new special.

"I'm coming as a friend with love, going 'Here's what's funny about it,' " Wayans said, revealing that he advised Smith to seek out therapy in the initial aftermath of the incident. "I would have told the jokes to them."

The comedian re-iterated his March 2022 comments to PEOPLE that Rock and Smith will eventually make amends as he told THR that he wants to focus on the importance of mental health by releasing the special.

"When you're these idols in people's eyes, we don't have any license to fail," Wayans said. "And what you saw was [Smith] fail. That can happen to any and every one of us under these pressures. He had the worst moment on the best day of his life."

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Ultimately, Wayans said he "just put myself in each one of those people's positions" with the new special and argued that Rock's joke and Smith's physical response "mirrored each other in a way and the experience brought everybody together."

"This came from a genuine place and I'm not afraid of them seeing it," he said. "I think all of them know my heart... I come from a good place and there's no harm ever meant. I just hope that at some point they can laugh at themselves."

Rock has his own new comedy special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, which will be Netflix's first live-streamed broadcast when it airs at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday on the streaming service.