Last year, Will Smith made headlines when he slapped Chris Rock. The comedian was hosting the night and one of his jokes included a dig at Jada Pinkett Smith. He poked fun at Pinkett’s alopecia, which earned a lot of chuckles from the crowd except her husband. The actor caused an uproar by smacking Rock and threatening him to stop mentioning his wife. The event overshadowed Smith’s Best Actor Oscar award for his performance in the film King Richard. However, a year later now, Richard Williams thinks it’s time to forgive the star.

Williams, also known as King Richard, recently shared his opinion about Will Smith on Good Morning Britain. He supported the star and explained that the 54-year-old has faced enough criticisms and setbacks. Thus, one should put an end to it finally. In fact, the Emancipation star had owned up to his actions and apologized to Rock plenty of times. Serena Williams’ father stated that he stands by Smith and he sees no fault in him as he was merely defending his wife as he should. “Yes, I will always be by his side. I think he did the best he needed to. I don’t see anything wrong with it,” Richard Williams claimed. 

The Men in Black star was banned for ten years from the Academy. Speaking about the same, Richard Williams added that the Academy should think about lifting the 10 years ban. Despite the ban, the actor was allowed to keep his award. The 81-year-old had previously condoned all acts of violence and he had also joked about getting a slap from Smith.

Richard Williams wanted Will Smith to slap him

In an old interview, the tennis coach had expressed his desire to meet Smith and even get a slap from him. Despite the father of three portraying Richard in the biopic, the pair never got the chance to interact or meet. He was not part of the production, unlike his daughters Venus and Serena Williams. 

During the same interview, the 81-year-old didn’t support Smith’s violence towards Rock. He was surprised to see the altercation between Smith and Rock on stage. However, the man was still all praises for his wonderful performance and for bringing the story to the silver screen. Meanwhile, on the night of the Oscars this year, Will Smith was spotted hanging around the neighborhood in his car.

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