Courtney B. Vance Says He Once Prevented Angela Basset From Will Smith Slap-Like Controversy [Video]

Courtney B. Vance is recalling a time when he had to encourage his wife Angela Bassett to “just keep walking.”

During his appearance on Power 105.1 FM’s “The Breakfast Club”, Vance recalled a time when he had to encourage his wife to ignore a fan who provoked her at an airport. He shared that the fan approached them in baggage claim at an airport, asking for an autograph.

“[The fan] wanted an autograph. I said, ‘It’s not appropriate right now. Please give us our [privacy]. If you recognize us, then [others] will, and it’ll be on,’ ” Vance shared. That didn’t sit well with the fan, who allegedly later “cussed [Bassett] out” and tried “to provoke her” as she continued to follow the couple at the airport.

Vance encouraged Bassett to just ignore the fan as he explained, “I said, ‘Angie, just keep walking, baby. Just keep walking. We’re going to our car. Just keep walking.’ ” According to the “61st Street” star, the fan even said, “I never liked your movies anyway!”

“You have to understand the situation and be able to sometimes know [when] it’s time to step up and say, ‘Don’t you dare,’ and sometimes you just gotta just walk away,” he said. “What we don’t wanna see is Angela Bassett pimp-slapping [anybody]. You ain’t getting [a reaction]. We’re not going down like that. We worked too hard for an incident that’s just gonna be folklore in our mind.”