Will Smith has become the talk of the town, thanks to the slapgate incident at the 94th Academy Awards. The actor after bagging his first Oscar with the Best Leading Actor award is being called out my Twitter and well as by celebrities who have condemned his action on the Oscars 2022 stage.

After stars like Nicole Kidman, Zoe Kravitz, Cardi B, Trevor Noah and many others, now Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams whose character Will Smith portrayed in the biographical sports drama film King Richard has reacted to the incident.

Richard Williams told NBC News, via his son Chavoita LeSane, “We don’t know all the details of what happened. But we don’t condone anyone hitting anyone else unless it’s in self-defence.” Meanwhile, Serena who was at the ceremony was also shocked by the moment and took to her Instagram stories to reveal her reaction. She expressed her speechlessness with her mouth open and added, “I just sat down, because I was like, I gotta put that drink down.”

After his onscreen family’s reaction, Will Smith’s mother, Carolyn Smith, told Philadelphia’s local ABC affiliate WPVI-TV that she was shocked. When asked if it surprised her, Carolyn said, “It did. I have never seen him do that. He is a very people person. And that’s the first time I have ever seen him go off, the first time in his lifetime.”

The actor’s younger sister, Ellen Smith spoke in her brother’s support and said, “Everybody like has been bullied, you know, and abused in some kind of way. And I totally understand. It’s like people are like ‘oh I wish I was in such and such shoes and oh those are my goals and everything,’ but you really don’t know what it takes to get there. I’ve 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.”

Will has apologised to Chris Rock and The Academy on Instagram, saying he regrets his actions. However, Twitter, as well as celebrities, are divided as The Academy continues a formal investigation into the slapgate incident.