Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar has criticized Will Smith's Academy Award acceptance speech, saying he spoke like "a cult leader". Last Sunday, the King Richard star received his Oscar for Best Actor less than half an hour after he stormed on stage and <a href="https://vt.co/entertainment/celebrity/video-shows-angle-most-people-have-not-seen-of-will-smiths-altercation-with-chris-rock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slapped Chris Rock</a> for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The jaw-dropping moment was broadcast live around the world and has been pretty much all anyone can talk about since it happened. However, in a reflective awards week diary for <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2022/03/pedro-almodovar-oscars-2022-zendaya-will-smith-1234712971/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IndieWire</a>, Almodóvar avoided discussing what he called the "violent episode" in any great detail. <img class="size-full wp-image-1263150160" src="https://img.vt.co/2022/04/2GJKAPD-1-e1648913443429.jpg" alt="" width="1300" height="913" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Mark Thomas / Alamy]] The 72-year-old director attended the ceremony to support Penelope Cruz, who was nominated for her role in his film Parallel Mothers. He described being sat "barely four meters from where it happened," adding that: "What I saw and heard produced a feeling of absolute rejection in me." He went on to describe how Smith's acceptance speech shortly after his altercation with Rock "seemed more like that of a cult leader." During his thank-you speech, Smith spoke about defending his family and quoted something Denzel Washington had told him: "At your highest moment, be careful. That's when the devil comes for you." Check out Smith's acceptance speech here: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1508283961650425859]] Almodóvar reflected on Smith's words, writing: "You don’t defend or protect the family with your fists, and no, the devil doesn’t take advantage of key moments to do his work. The devil, in fact, doesn’t exist." "This was a fundamentalist speech that we should neither hear nor see," he added, before reiterating the point that the slap shouldn't be allowed to overshadow everything else that happened at the ceremony. Smith made multiple references to God and his faith throughout his acceptance speech. "In this time in my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world. I'm being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people," he said as tears ran down his face. He also addressed his outburst, apologizing to the Academy and his fellow nominees for the incident. In an Instagram post after the ceremony, Smith also formally apologized to Rock. <h6>Featured Image Credit: Everett Collection Inc / Alamy</h6>

Pedro Almodóvar says Will Smith's acceptance speech was 'like that of a cult leader'

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