Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the Academy Awards was uncharacteristic of the superstar, his mother said in a new interview.
Carloyn Smith, the 85-year-old mother of Will, told a local Philadelphia outlet that she’d never seen her son do anything quite like when he confronted Rock on live television.
“He is a very even, people person,” Carolyn told WPVI of Philadelphia. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen him go off. First time in his lifetime … I’ve never seen him do that.”
Carolyn continued, saying that she woke up on Oscar morning and sent luck Will’s way in the family group chat. Luckily for them, it seemed to work, as Will took home the Best Actor Oscar later in the night.
“I know how he works, how hard he works,” Carolyn said about his win. “I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting. When I heard the name, I was just, ‘Yes!’”
Will’s younger sister Ellen Smith also discussed the night with WPVI, telling the station that Will has had to deal with a lot of pressure as high-profile star, and that she’s “had conversations with him, and it like really kind of broke my heart listening to the things he’s said he had to go through to get to where he is.”
As for Will’s not-so-real family and their reactions to the night, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-star Janet Hubert, who played Aunt Viv, tweeted Monday that she too has “wanted to slap the mess out of so many folks who have disrespected me.”
“So PROUD OF YOU! Yes there is only so much one can take...sometimes you have to slap back,” she wrote in an Instagram caption. “Celebrate the win...nothing else matters. Both actions were incorrect but Chris didn’t need to go there. Met him once… it was enough for me...very mean spirited. #kingrichardfirthewin”
