Twenty years after his first nomination, Will Smith finally won his first Oscar – awarded for best actor in a leading role for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena.
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However, Will Smith’s win was overshadowed by an incident earlier in the night, when Smith went up onstage and gave presenter Chris Rock a slap after the comedian made a dig about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her shaved head.
Below’s Will Smith’s acceptance speech;
“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family. In this time in my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world. Making this film I got to protect Aunjanue Ellis, who was one of the strongest, most delicate people I’ve ever met. I got to protect Saniyya [Sidney] and Demi [Singleton], the two actresses that played Venus and Serena. Being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people.
“To do what we do, you got to be able to take abuse. You got to be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you got to be able to have people disrespecting you and you got to smile and you got to pretend like that’s OK. … Denzel said to me a few minutes ago, he said, ‘At your highest moment be careful. That’s when the devil comes for you.’
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“It’s like I want to be a vessel for love. I want to say thank you to Venus and Serena. I just spit — I hope they didn’t see that on TV. I want to say thank you to Venus and Serena and the entire Williams family for entrusting me with your story. That’s what I want to do. I want to be an ambassador of that kind of love and care and concern.
“I want to apologize to the academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees.
“This is a beautiful moment and I’m not crying for winning an award. It’s not about winning an award for me. It’s about being able to shine light on all of the people — [producers] Tim [White] and Trevor [White] and [writer] Zach [Baylin] and Saniyya and Demi and Aunjanue and the entire cast and crew of ‘King Richard.’ And Venus and Serena and the entire Williams family.
“Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father … just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.
“To my mother, a lot of this moment is really complicated for me but I — she didn’t want to come out. She’s had her knitting friends. She has a knitting crew that she’s [with] in Philly watching with — being able to love and care for my mother, my family, my wife.
“I’m taking up too much time. Thank you for this honor. Thank you for this moment. I thank you on behalf of Richard and for seeing the entire Williams family. Thank you. Hoping the academy invites me back. Thank you.”
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