“Things shouldn’t be twisted so that it now seems like something he was proud of. It was a moment when he made a decision, no more, no less. I could name fifty other situations in which Will should have sold people a big cock, but he hasn’t done so in all those times.” What he did now was apparently a sign that the bucket was full.’He’s just human and he’s just acting out of emotion,’ said Jazzy Jeff of the Oscars, which witnessed Smith’s dismay.

The actor’s friend said he did not see the incident live, when Smith punched Chris Rock. No, I wasn’t watching but I quickly heard what happened. I really don’t care, Hollywood is a rotten world with people who think they are very important. Children are being killed in Ukraine right now, and that’s something we need to talk about. I just don’t care about that punch of Will.”

He continues: “I know Will and I know he’s not an aggressive guy, I’ve never seen him get angry in the years I’ve known him. At first I thought it was a gimmick, because of that smile on his face. That’s how he often looked at the movie set when we were shooting. It was a flat-handed slap, not Punch. Will is a trained fighter, so if he really wanted to hurt Chris, he could have kicked Chris out easily. But that didn’t happen, and I just want to point out that it was a purely emotional reaction.”

After the hit, Smith himself rescinded his membership in the Academy, the organization behind the Academy Awards ceremony. The Academy ruled that he would not be welcomed at the awards ceremony for ten years.