Raven-Symoné has got Will Smith’s back.
The “Raven’s Home” star says she’s “really proud” of Smith for apologizing after he slapped Chris Rock at last weekend’s Academy Awards, a stunning act that instantly became one of the most shocking moments in Oscars history.
Raven-Symoné, who once appeared with Smith in a 1992 episode of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” told "People (the TV Show!)" that her “politically correct answer is, I’m really proud of Will for apologizing and standing up for what he believes in and also telling his truth.”
She also said people may not know all the details.
“And here’s the one thing I will say, in this industry, a lot of the times, we get the tail end of a long conversation,” she said. “And the tail end will end up in an ‘ooh!’ moment or a word or something like that, and we take it out of context, and we blow it up.”
“We don’t know the rest of the story,” she added. “And knowing that there’s a long history and he was defending his woman at the time — of course, there could have been other times to do that — but thank you for making that award show very interesting!”
Smith walked up to the stage and slapped Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her shaved head while Rock was presenting the award for best documentary. After Smith returned to his seat, he continued to yell at Rock.
Less than an hour later, Smith was back onstage, accepting the best actor award for his role in “King Richard.” During that speech, he apologized for what happened, but failed to mention Rock.
His actions drew strong rebukes from Academy Awards co-hosts Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes, as well as comedians across the industry, in addition to other people who were shocked by what took place.
Smith would later apologize to Rock.
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris," he wrote in an Instagram post Monday. "I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be."
On Monday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences condemned Smith's actions and on Wednesday the organization said it has begun disciplinary proceedings against him, while noting the actor "refused" to leave the ceremony after the altercation.
Rock, who did not file a police report, performed for the first time since the incident Wednesday night when he did two shows in Boston.
“I don’t have a bunch of s--- about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I’m still kind of processing what happened," he told the crowd. "So, at some point I’ll talk about that s---. And it will be serious and funny.”