Will Smith uses part of his time on stage - for winning best actor for King Richard - to apologise for hitting Chris Rock on the face

In an emotionally charged and very tearful speech, Will Smith used part of his time on stage - for winning best actor for King Richard - to apologise for hitting Chris Rock on the face on stage.

In the film he plays the father of tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams in King Richard.

He said much of his time making the film was spent "protecting" his fellow actors, just as Richard Williams had protected and nurtured his family.

Earlier;

Will Smith hits Chris Rock at the Oscars

Chris Rock and Will Smith had an altercation during the 2022 Oscar telecast.

Rock took to the stage to present the award for Best Documentary when he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith being in “G.I. Jane” because of her shaved head.

Smith then took the stage to punch Rock.

Although it appeared to be a joke at first, Smith returned to his seat and yelled at Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out of your ****** mouth!”

Many in the Oscars audience appeared stunned at the altercation.

Pinkett Smith – who announced last year that she shaved her head after struggling with alopecia – could be seen in the audience together with her husband, rolling her eyes at the joke.

[Source: independent.co.uk]

Meanwhile the full list of Oscar winners are :

BEST PICTURE

Winner: CODA

Other nominees: Don’t Look Up, Dune, Belfast, West Side Story, Licorice Pizza, King Richard, Nightmare Alley, Drive My Car

BEST ACTRESS

Winner: Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Other nominees: Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter; Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos; Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers; Kristen Stewart, Spencer

BEST ACTOR

Winner: Will Smith — King Richard

Other nominees: Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog; Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick ... Boom!; Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth; Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos

BEST DIRECTOR

Winner: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

Other nominees: Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza; Steven Spielberg, West Side Story; Kenneth Branagh, Belfast; Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Winner: Billie Eilish and Finneas, “No Time to Die,” in No Time to Die“

Other nominees: “Dos Oruguitas,” Encanto; “Be Alive,” King Richard; “Down to Joy,” Belfast; “Somehow You Do,” Four Good Days

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Winner: Summer of Soul

Other nominees: Flee, Ascension, Attica, Writing with Fire

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Winner: CODA

Other nominees: The Power of the Dog, The Lost Daughter, Dune, Drive My Car

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Winner: Belfast

Other nominees: Licorice Pizza, Don’t Look Up, King Richard, The Worst Person in the World

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Winner: Cruella

Other nominees: Dune, Nightmare Alley, Cyrano, West Side Story

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Winner: Drive My Car

Other nominees: The Worst Person in the World, Flee, The Hand of God, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Winner: Troy Kotsur, CODA

Other nominees: Kodi Smit-Mcphee, The Power of the Dog; Ciarán Hinds, Belfast; J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos; Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Winner: Encanto

Other nominees: Luca, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Flee, Raya and the Last Dragon

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Winner: Dune

Other nominees: Spider-Man: No Way Home, Free Guy, No Time To Die, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

BEST SOUND

Winner: Dune

Other nominees: The Power of the Dog, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Nightmare Alley, West Side Story

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Winner: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

Other nominees: Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog; Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard; Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter; Judi Dench, Belfast

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Winner: Dune

Other nominees: Dune, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog, The Tragedy of Macbeth, West Side Story

BEST FILM EDITING

Winner: Dune

Other nominees: The Power of the Dog, Don’t Look Up, Tick, Tick ... Boom!, King Richard

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Winner: Dune

Other nominees: The Power of the Dog, Parallel Mothers, Don’t Look Up, Encanto

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Winner: The Long Goodbye

Other nominees: The Dress, On My Mind, Please Hold, Ala Kachuu – Take and Run

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Winner: The Windshield Wiper

Other nominees: Robin Robin, Boxballet, Affairs of the Art, Bestia

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Winner: The Queen of Basketball

Other nominees: Audible, Lead Me Home, Three Songs for Benazir, When We Were Bullies

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Winner: The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Other nominees: Coming 2 America, Cruella, Dune, House of Gucci