Will Smith was overcome with emotion as he accepted his Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Venus and Serena Williams’ dad Richard Williams in “King Richard.”
Will’s win came shortly after he was involved in an on-stage altercation with Chris Rock where Will got up from his seat and smacked Chris Rock after Chris made a joke about Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The tension in the air was there, and Will addressed the incident right off the top of his speech saying:
“Oh, man. Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family. In this time in my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what god is calling on me to do and be in this world. Making this film, I got to protect Aunjanue Ellis, who is one of the strongest, most delicate people I’ve ever met. I got to protect Saniyya and Demi, the two actresses that played Venus and Serena,” Will began.
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View Gallery“I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people. I know to do what we do, you got to be able to take abuse. You got to be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business you got to be able to have people disrespecting you. And you got to smile, you got to pretend like that’s okay,” Will added, seemingly referencing the joke that Chris had made about him.
“Richard Williams, and what I loved — thank you, Denzel said a few minutes ago, at your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you,” Will shared.
“It’s like, I want to be a vessel for love. I want to say thank you to Venus and Serena. I want to say thank you to Venus and Serena and the entire Williams family for entrusting me with your story. That’s what I want to do. I want to be an ambassador of that kind of love and care and concern,” Will added.
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View GalleryHe then apologized to the audience and the Academy.
“I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment and I’m not — I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine a light on all of the people. Tim and Trevor and Zack and Saniyya and Demi and Aunjanue and the entire cast, the Williams family. Art imitates life,” Will added.
Then he opened up about how he thought people may perceive him following the evening’s altercation and how this award was really for his family and those who helped him make this movie.
“I look like the crazy father, just like they said, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things,” Will shared.
“To my mother, a lot of this moment is really complicated for me. To my mother, she didn’t want to come out, she had her knitting friends, she has a knitting crew, she’s in Philly watching. Being able to love and care for my mother and my family, my wife. I’m taking up too much time. Thank you for this honor. Thank you for this moment. And thank you on behalf of Richard and the entire Williams family. Thank you. I hope the Academy invites me back. Thank you.”
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