Tiffany Haddish Sparks Debate After Defending Will Smith Slap As The 'Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Ever Seen'

Amid significant backlash against first-time Oscar winner Will Smith, Tiffany Haddish comes to his fierce defense. While many called his conduct violent, the comedian called it "the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen."

During Sunday night's Oscar Academy Award ceremony, celebrating its 94th annual showing, Smith went viral in seconds after slapping comedian Chris Rock on live television.

The assault happened while Rock was presenting the award for the category of best documentary. He compared Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, to G.I. Jane, poking fun at her shaved head. Not taking the insult to his wife lightly, Smith walked up on stage and smacked the comedian across the face.

He then sat down in his seat and screamed at Rock:

"Keep me wife's name out your f**king mouth!!"

The altercation resulted in memes galore, but also a national conversation about the appropriateness of Smith's violence. In stark contrast to the criticism, Haddish – friend of the Smith family – gave her unwavering support.

At the Governor's Ball afterparty, Haddish said the following to People magazine:

“When I saw a Black man stand up for his wife, that meant so much to me.”

“As a woman, who has been unprotected, for someone to say, ‘Keep my wife’s name out your mouth, leave my wife alone,’ that’s what your husband is supposed to do, right? Protect you.”

“Maybe the world might not like how it went down, but for me, it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives."

Since the event there has been a clear divide in who was wrong: the actor or the comedian. Many others shared Haddish's viewpoint, arguing that Smith did the right thing.

Others agree, see below:

Another person said:

Others, of course, disagreed.

The following user argued that Haddish's support for Will Smith, being a comedian herself:

Jada Smith went public about her struggles with alopecia and has since went bald because of its effects. After Rock's joke at the Oscars, Jada was visibly upset, rolling her eyes in frustration.

Many agree the joke was a low blow but feel Will Smith should have handled the situation very differently.