Richard Williams and Carolyn Smith, mother of Will Smith, have responded to the Academy Award winner’s Oscar night controversy.
On Sunday, Smith walked on stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Minutes after the incident, Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actor for portraying Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard.
Carolyn Smith has said she is proud of her son winning the award he has been working towards for so long.
She said to Philadelphia’s 6abc, “I know how he works, how hard he works…I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting. When I heard the name, I was just, ‘Yes!'”
She was excited throughout the day waking early and letting the family know to send good luck to her son, saying, “I started out saying, ‘Good morning, we’ve got to say good luck to Uncle Will.”
Of the incident itself, she said, “He is a very even, people person. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen him go off. First time in his lifetime… I’ve never seen him do that.” The family hasn’t let the moment sour the monumental victory Will Smith achieved, saying that the actor has always been family first as a loving father and son.
The man Will Smith portrayed and earned his first-ever Oscar for portraying has also weighed in on the situation.
On Monday, Richard Williams told NBC News that he condemns violence in almost every situation, saying:
“We don’t know all the details of what happened,” Williams said through his son, Chavoita LeSane. “But we don’t condone anyone hitting anyone else unless it’s in self-defense.”
Williams didn’t comment on being mentioned in Smith’s acceptance speech.
The Academy has recently released a statement condemning Smith’s actions.
