Slap was ‘most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen’

An actress with close ties to Jada Pinkett Smith has defended Will Smith’s violent Oscars stage invasion, calling the outburst “beautiful.”

Tiffany Haddish is on Will Smith’s side after he slapped Chris Rock on stage at the 2022 Oscars yesterday.

Haddish, who starred in the 2017 movie Girls Trip with Jada Pinkett Smith, told People that seeing “a black man stand up for his wife” meant “so much” to her.

“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,” she explained.

The comedian, 42, then reiterated, “That meant the world to me.”

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The moment that Tiffany Haddish described as “beautiful.” Picture: AFP

However, the Night School star recognised that the world “might not like how it went down” even though, for her, 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 has a close friendship with the Smiths. In 2017, the stand-up comic revealed she convinced the Hollywood power couple to go on a Groupon swamp tour with her.

Although Haddish also considers Rock, 57, a “friend,” she asked People, “Why would you do that? He didn’t even run the joke by her, but she was hurt, though.”

Tiffany Haddish and Will Smith at yesterday’s Oscars.

“If she wouldn’t have been hurt, [Will] probably wouldn’t have said nothing,” she added. “But you could see he was, clearly … and they exploited it. They exploited her, so ‘I have to do something.’ … He protected his wife.”

On Monday, when Rock took the Oscars stage to present the Academy Award for Best Documentary, he looked over at Pinkett Smith, 50, and joked, “Jada, I love you. ‘G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see you.”

The quip was not taken well by the actress, who is bald as a result of her struggles with alopecia.

After she was seen on camera rolling her eyes, Smith, 53, rushed the stage to slap Rock. Once the Bad Boys star returned to his seat, he yelled, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth.”

Stars and viewers have been split over whether Smith’s actions are defensible.

Rosie O’Donnell called the Men in Black star a “madman,” and Howard Stern called the slap a “sign of great mental illness.”

Meanwhile, Smith’s son Jaden Smith seemingly supported his dad, tweeting after the Academy Awards, “And That’s How We Do It.”

Rock has declined to file a police report against the Oscar-winning King Richard star.

This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission