Oscars Viewers Divided Over Will Smith's 'Apology' After Altercation

Oscar viewers are divided after witnessing Will Smith's apology at Sunday night's Academy Awards, in which he hit host Chris Rock.

The actor apologised to The Academy and his fellow nominees later in the ceremony, during his acceptance speech for Best Actor In A Leading Role, claiming "love will make you do crazy things."

Watch his acceptance speech and apology here:

The King Richard star stirred up quite a lot of controversy when Chris Rock made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith - who has a shaved head - suggesting she looked like 'G.I. Jane'.

The actor got up from his seat and briefly joined Rock on stage, appearing to 'slap' him.

After Smith took to his seat in the audience, he told Rock: "Keep my wife's name out of your f*cking mouth".

Viewers were absolutely shocked when they witnessed the drama unfold and took to Twitter to discuss Will's apology.

While some were moved by his reaction to the 'slap', others were shocked that Will had refused to include Chris Rock in his apology.

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Sympathising with Will, one viewer tweeted: "Will Smith with the heartfelt apology but also confirming he was standing up for Jada and would again in a five-minute speech we'll never forget."

Another noted: "First, Chris Rock owes Jada an apology. It was particularly cruel to make her head the joke when it is due to a medical condition. She's been public about it. Second, I thank and commend Will Smith for supporting Black women. He is human. I forgive him for not being perfect."

And a third argued: "I'm definitely team Will Smith on this one. Bullies who make fun of medical conditions or people's appearances get smacked without apology. Bye."

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Meanwhile, others are pretty unhappy with Will's apology.

One shocked viewer wrote: "Will Smith: 'I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees.' Notably, no apology to Chris Rock."

"I normally would be in tears at this monumental moment. Instead I am witnessing one of my fave persons win an Oscar and I still feel disgusted. No sense of remorse, no apology for assault. I am DONE. Fan OUT! @willsmith @jadapsmith," tweeted a second.

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And a third wrote: "Always loved Will Smith, and I'm not one to ever write people off, but no apology to Chris Rock here, and comparing himself to Mr. Williams as a way to excuse his behavior didn't sit well with me."

Soon after the incident, the Academy Awards issued a statement to Twitter that read: "The Academy does not condone violence of any form. Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world."

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Smith beat out competition from Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth, Javier Bardem in Being the Ricardos, Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog and Andrew Garfield in Tick, Tick...Boom! to win his very first Oscar.

Topics: Celebrity, Will Smith, Oscars