Winner of the Emmy Award for best screenplay for a drama series, the Briton did not fail to allude to his famous namesake, who slapped the audience during the Oscars ceremony two years ago.
The line sparked laughter from the audience attending the Emmy Awards ceremony on Sunday evening, September 15. British writer Will Smith, who wrote the series Slow Horseswas keen to reassure his audience after being awarded the prize for best screenplay for a drama series.
“First of all: relax. Despite my name, I come in peace,” he joked? A reference to the incident that had involved his famous namesake two years earlier in this same room of the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
A slap after a Chris Rock joke
On March 27, 2022, Will Smith, the star of Men in Black et Bad Boysburst onto the stage during the 94th Academy Awards to slap Chris Rock, who had made a joke about Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, even though she suffers from alopecia, a severe hair loss.
“Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” Will Smith shouted at the comedian, to the astonished gaze of the audience.
Later in the evening, Will Smith was awarded the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in The Williams Method. “I want to apologize to the Academy of Oscars,” he said in tears upon receiving the statuette. “Love makes you do crazy things.”
After this slap, Will Smith was banned from attending the Oscars for ten years.
