Tiffany Haddish Defends Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock

Tiffany Haddish has defended Will Smith after he slapped Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards.

While on stage to present the Oscar for Best Documentary, Rock made an insensitive joke about Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

After Rock made the joke, Smith – who later that evening won the Oscar for Best Actor – promptly went on stage and slapped him.

Now, Haddish, who has long been friends with the Smiths, has come out in support of the King Richard actor.

Speaking to People during the Governors Ball after-party, Haddish said of Smith: "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, ‘Keep my wife’s name out your mouth, leave my wife alone,’ that’s what your husband is supposed to do, right? Protect you."

Rock's joke that he was excited to see Pinkett Smith in G.I Jane 2, a reference to the 1997 G.I Jane film where Demi Moore notably has a shaved head, didn't sit well with many, including Smith, as Pinkett Smith revealed in 2018 that she had been diagnosed with alopecia.

Alamy

After Smith returned to his seat he shouted the words: "Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth!" Rock seemed to brush off the moment, saying, "That was the greatest night in the history of television."

Many were left talking about the incident after the ceremony, with Haddish – who starred alongside Pinkett Smith in Girls Trip and has sat down to speak with the star on her Facebook show Red Table Talk – going on to say that she saw Smith's defence of his wife as a 'beautiful thing'.

Alamy

"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 said.

The Night School actor went on to question why Rock made the joke in the first place, adding: "Why would you do that? He didn't even run the joke by her, but she was hurt though."

Haddish said she felt if Jada 'wouldn't have been hurt [Will] probably wouldn't have said nothin' after the joke, adding: "But you could see he was clearly… And they exploited it. They exploited her, so 'I have to do something'… He protected his wife."

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