Chris Rock won’t press charges over Will Smith slapping him at Oscars
Troy Kotsur and Ariana DeBose nabbed historic Oscar victories, but the 94th Academy Awards might be remembered for Will Smith slapping Chris Rock.
Entertain This!, USA TODAY
Will Smith’s “King Richard” costar Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is offering some interesting hindsight about her on-screen husband’s infamous Oscars slap.
Ellis-Taylor, 57, defended Smith’s decision to slap Chris Rock during the 2022 Academy Awards, saying she understood his desire to protect his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, after Rock made a joke about her shaved head.
The Oscar-nominated actress made the comments during an Aug. 12 appearance on The Daily Beast podcast “Obsessed.”
“I know that he wanted to protect his wife,” Ellis-Taylor said. “I stand by that. I stand with him for that.”
The “Origin” star also pushed back on the idea that freedom of speech should shield people from the consequences of what they say. “I think that, you know, this idea that First Amendment rights should protect everybody? I don’t think it should necessarily protect a–holes. I don’t. I don’t. I really don’t, especially if you’re causing harm,” she said.
Ellis-Taylor starred opposite Smith in the 2021 biographical sports drama “King Richard,” portraying Oracene “Brandy” Price, the mother of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams.
Smith won the Best Actor Academy Award for his on-screen depiction of the Williams sisters’ father, Richard Williams; Ellis-Taylor earned a Best Supporting Actress nod for her performance.
The “Nickel Boys” actress’ defense of Smith comes more than four years after the altercation that became one of the most controversial moments in Oscars history. During the 2022 ceremony, Rock took aim at Pinkett Smith’s shaved head while presenting an award. He joked, “Jada, I love you. ‘G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it!”
Rock’s joke, which referenced Pinkett Smith’s shaved head amid her experience with alopecia, an autoimmune condition that can cause hair loss, was not taken well by Smith. Moments later, the “I, Robot” actor walked onto the stage and slapped Rock across the face before returning to his seat and shouting, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—ing mouth!”
Later that evening, Smith won the best actor Oscar for his performance in “King Richard.” He apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees during his acceptance speech and also issued a public apology to the “Grown Ups” actor the following day, calling his behavior “unacceptable and inexcusable.”
The “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” alum was subsequently banned from attending Academy events, including the Oscars, for 10 years.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor praises Will Smith’s behavior on ‘King Richard’ set
While Smith’s actions that night sparked widespread criticism, Ellis-Taylor said her personal experience working with the actor shaped how she views him.
She described Smith as one of the most caring actors she has worked with and complimented the way he treated people throughout the production of “King Richard,” regardless of their position on set. Ellis-Taylor said Smith frequently stood up for “background actors” and didn’t tolerate people being treated poorly.
In a March 2024 interview with The Independent, Ellis-Taylor shared that she was “not paid well” nor “respectfully” for her work on the film, and Smith stepped in after learning about her compensation.
“I spoke up about it, directly, to Will Smith. And as a result, he not only doubled my pay but doubled the pay of everybody on the cast,” she said. “And he took money out of his own pocket to do that; he didn’t go the studio route. It just shows that when Black women do well, everybody does well.”