Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor has publicly defended Will Smith’s 2022 Oscars slap of Chris Rock, declaring she still stands by his actions.
The “King Richard” co-star, 56, made her comments during a recent episode of the Daily Beast’s “Obsessed” podcast. Ellis-Taylor, who played Oracene “Brandi” Price opposite Smith’s Richard Williams in the 2021 biopic, said she understood his motivation for storming the stage that night.
“I know that he wanted to protect his wife,” the actress said of the infamous moment, which saw Smith, 56, lash out over the comedian’s joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s closely cropped hair at the 94th Academy Awards.
“I stand by that,” Ellis-Taylor added. “I stand with him for that.”
The onstage slap came just before Smith nabbed Best Actor for his role as Richard Williams, while Ellis-Taylor earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her performance as his onscreen wife.
“I think that, you know, this idea that First Amendment rights should protect everybody? I don’t think it should necessarily protect a–holes,” Ellis-Taylor explained. “I don’t. I don’t. I really don’t, especially if you’re causing harm.”
The actress made it clear that she’s disturbed by First Amendment protections being used to justify defending the Confederate flag.
“I know blanket First Amendment valorization,” she said. “I don’t buy into that. I just don’t. To say the least, it needs to be nuanced. You can’t use it as an excuse to harm someone.”
As far as her experience working with the “Bad Boys” actor, Ellis-Taylor said he was a “caretaker” for the “King Richard” cast.
“Will Smith is the most caretaking actor that I’ve ever worked with,” she said during the interview, noting that he “took care of everybody” during filming.
And, she added, she’d also seen his protective side. “He just would not allow anybody to be treated poorly in his presence.”
“He would just not allow it. And I cannot tell you how rare that is in this job. I will always have a great deal of affection and care for him because he acted that way.”
In the viral moment that sparked global headlines, Rock, 60, was presenting the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature when he joked, “Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” referencing Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. She had recently revealed her alopecia diagnosis, an autoimmune condition causing hair loss. Smith initially laughed, then walked onstage and slapped Rock across the face. Returning to his seat, he shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out your f—ing mouth!” Rock, stunned, replied, “Wow, dude, it was a G.I. Jane joke,” only for Smith to repeat his warning. Smith won Best Actor roughly 40 minutes later and apologized to the Academy during his acceptance speech, but not to Rock. The next day, Smith posted an apology to Rock on social media, writing, “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable.” He resigned from the Academy and received a 10-year ban from Oscars events.
The incident has continued to reverberate through both men’s careers. Smith recently released his album “Based on a True Story,” which references the slap, while Rock has incorporated the moment into his stand-up routines and said at this year’s Vanity Fair Oscars Party that “the most miserable people on earth are people that can’t forgive.”