Tiffany Haddish has spoken out in favor of Will Smith's violent altercation with Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards last night.

Media coverage of the star-studded event yesterday evening was dominated by a particularly heated moment which saw the King Richard star storm on stage to slap Chris Rock while he was presenting the award for best documentary.

It came a moment after the comic appeared to make reference to Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head, despite - or perhaps without knowing - that she has a hair loss condition known as alopecia.

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It goes without saying that Smith's actions have drawn condemnation from many, with the Academy, even, clarifying in a statement that it does not "condone violence of any form."

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However, one person who refuses to vilify Smith is stand-up comedian Tiffany Haddish.

Speaking to People following the awards ceremony, she said: "When I saw a Black man stand up for his wife. That meant so much to me. As a woman, who has been unprotected, for someone to say like, ‘Keep my wife’s name out your mouth, leave my wife alone,’ that’s what your husband is supposed to do, right? Protect you.

"And that meant the world to me. And maybe the world might not like how it went down, but for me, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives."

Haddish went on to criticize Rock for not warning the Smiths about the joke, despite being a friend of theirs.

She said: "As a friend, why would you do that? He didn’t even run the joke by her, but she was hurt, though. If she wouldn’t have been hurt, he probably wouldn’t have said nothing."

As reported by Variety, the comic and actress even told Pinkett Smith: "You better suck [Smith's] d*** from the back, girl!" after her longtime husband defended her so publicly.

Following his physical altercation with Rock, Smith was honored with the award for best actor for his role as Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard.

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Referring to his earlier actions, the sobbing actor said: "I want to 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."

He added: "Art imitates life! I looked like the crazy father, just like they said. But love will make you do crazy things."

Featured image credit: Sipa US / Alamy

Tiffany Haddish praises Will Smith for 'protecting' his wife when he slapped Chris Rock