‘I’ll stick up for the comic’: Alan Davies says Will Smith hitting Chris Rock not ‘in any way reasonable’

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Alan Davies has expressed solidarity with Chris Rock after Will Smith hit the US comedian onstage at the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday (27 March).

The British stand-up comedian said in a new interview on Tuesday (29 March) that he will always “stick up for the comic” when asked about one of the most shocking incidents in the Academy Awards’s 94-year history.

While presenting the Best Documentary Oscar during Sunday night’s ceremony at Los Angeles’s Dolby Theatre, Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.

“Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you,” Rock quipped, prompting Smith to walk up onto the stage and slap the stand-up comic.

In an Instagram statement, Smith later apologised for his behaviour, saying that the joke about “Jada’s medical condition was too much” for him – causing him to react emotionally.

Pinkett Smith announced last year that she shaved her head after struggling with alopecia.

During his interview with the BBC on Tuesday, Davies also said he doesn’t think Rock was “referencing” Pinkett Smith’s medical condition, adding that Smith’s reaction was not “in any way reasonable”.

“The little difficulty with people saying that they’re offended, and getting upset, and wanting comedians to moderate what they say... My instinct, and any comedian’s instinct is always, when you’re told to moderate what you say, your instinct is always to do the opposite. And I’m sure that’s Chris Rock’s instinct...

“I’m a fan of Chris Rock,” Davies continued, revealing he had tickets to watch the comedian perform live at London’s Royal Albert Hall in May this year.

“I’ll stick up for the comic, I’m afraid.”

You can read Smith’s full apology to Rock here.

Find the full list of 2022 Oscar winners here. See the latest updates and reactions from the dramatic ceremony here, and read about the biggest talking points here.