The father of Venus and Serena Williams has responded after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars, before winning an Academy Award for playing him in the movie King Richard.
On Monday, a day after the dramatic awards show, 80-year-old Richard Williams told NBC News, via his son Chavoita LeSane: "We don’t know all the details of what happened. But we don’t condone anyone hitting anyone else unless it’s in self-defense."
In Smith's acceptance speech for Best Actor, he sobbed as he apologized to the Academy while also comparing his fury over's Rock comment about his wife to Mr. Williams defending his daughters as he coached them into the tennis legends they are today.
"I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams," Smith said. "But love will make you do crazy things."
He said elsewhere in his speech: "I wanna apologize to the Academy and to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment and I’m crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me it’s about being able to shine a light on all of the people, the entire cast and crew."
Smith added: "Art imitates life! I looked like the crazy father, just like they said. But love will make you do crazy things."
He has since publicly apologized directly to Rock, after failing to do so in his acceptance speech.
Taking to Instagram, the actor said: "I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness."
While blasting his own behavior at the Academy Awards as "unacceptable and inexcusable," he went on to say that he can take jokes at his expense, adding, however: "A joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally."
Rock is yet to respond to Smith's apology.
He has, however, refused to press charges against the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air star.
