Richard Williams says it's time to forgive Will Smith for Oscars slap
The father of Venus and Serena Williams has defended Will Smith ahead of the 95th Academy Awards.
The father of Venus and Serena Williams has said it’s time to forgive Will Smith after his outburst at the Oscars last year.
It’s hard to think about the Oscars without remembering the moment Smith, 54, stormed on stage and slapped comedian and presenter Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards.
The Men in Black star was offended after Rock made a comment about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s appearance by comparing her to G.I. Jane.
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Smith apologised to Rock following the slap, but he was still given a 10-year ban from attending any Academy events or programmes.
The Fresh Prince star shared an Instagram Reel in July in which he said: '"Chris, I apologise to you. My behaviour was unacceptable. And I'm here whenever you're ready to talk."
The evening wasn’t all bad for Smith as he won his first Oscar for his role in King Richard, the biopic about Richard Williams and his iconic daughters.
Williams, 81, shared his support for Smith and said he doesn’t see anything ‘wrong’ with what happened on stage last year.
“I think he has done the best thing he needed to do, but I would never be disgusted with Mr Smith. Matter of fact, I appreciate Mr Smith,” he shared on Good Morning Britain.
When asked if he thought Smith was guilty of any wrongdoing during the Oscars, Williams responded: “I don’t see nothing wrong with that.”
He added: “It’s time for everyone to forgive Will Smith.”
Williams also called for the ban to be lifted, adding: “I’ll say my message to Mr Smith right now. Thank you very much for being so good looking, so handsome!”
Williams’ comments come as Rock finally addressed the infamous slap during his recent Netflix comedy special.
Rock took to the stage once again for Selective Outrage, in which he went on a tirade in having said 'everybody' calls the Fresh Prince star a 'b***h'.
As the audience roared with laughter, Rock says: "Y'all know what happened to me, getting smacked by 'Suge Smith'.
"I got smacked at the f***ing Oscars by this motherf**ker."
Rock went on to say that while the slap 'hurt', he didn't cry about it because he's 'not a victim'.
"You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle, crying," appearing to roast Smith's tearful apologies in the aftermath of his outburst.
"You will never see it, never gonna happen... I took that hit like [Manny] Pacquiao."
Topics: Will Smith, Chris Rock
Gregory Robinson