Will Smith makes edgy Oscars slap joke as he accepts coveted Emmy Award

Will Smith accepted the award for Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series after some controversial wins at the 2024 Emmy Awards .

As the Slow Horses showrunner and executive producer took the stage to accept an Emmy , he made a major distinction between himself and a certain famous actor. "First of all," he said. "Relax, despite my name, I come in peace."

The star was making an edgy reference to the Bad Boys actor, Will Smith , who made a splash at the 2022 Academy Awards . At the time, Chris Rock made an unsavory joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith, causing Will to jump from his seat and slap the presenter across his face. "Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can't wait to see it, all right?" Chris said, mocking the actress' hair loss due to her alopecia.

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Will snapped quickly, jumping up to slap him across the face. He said, "Keep my wife's name out [of] your f---ing mouth!" Although Chris tried to defend himself, explaining that it was a joke, Will didn't care, only repeating himself in defense of Jada.

The Will Smith who accepted the award was a completely different guy, actually being an executive producer and show creator of Slow Horses' iconic episode, Negotiating with Tigers.

After securing nominations for the drama show, Will was elated. He told GoldDerby : “We’re all quite blown away by it. It’s absolutely amazing! The main thing I take from it is that it’s so great for the show. I just want more people to see the show. It’s really exciting that this will give it some buzz and get more people watching it.”

Fans were a bit startled to hear that Will Smith was accepting an awards as they weren't expecting the man who actually accepted it. A fan on X, formerly known as Twitter, said: "I have to assume every household in America had the exact same reaction to hearing Will Smith’s name during an award show."

As for the joke itself, fans were a bit torn on their feelings. "Writer Will Smith with the line of the night at this year’s," laughed one. However, others felt it was time to move on from the incident in 2024. Another said: "Not white Will Smith making a tasteless 'I come in peace' joke that throws shots at Black Will Smith."