Tory backs Will Smith over Oscars slap and says he’d ‘lamp’ someone over ‘tasteless’ joke

Conservative MP Simon Hoare said hoped he would ‘get up and lamp’ someone if they made a joke about his wife’s medical condition after Hollywood actor Will Smith smacked comedian Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars

A senior Tory has waded into the Oscars row and said hoped he would “get up and lamp” someone if they made a joke about his wife’s medical condition.

Conservative MP Simon Hoare appeared to back Hollywood actor Will Smith, who hit Oscars host Chris Rock after taking offence at a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

At Sunday’s ceremony, Rock quipped, “Jada, can’t wait for G.I. Jane 2,” in reference to 1997 film G.I Jane – which starred Demi Moore sporting a buzzcut similar to Pinkett Smith.

Smith walked onto the stage and slapped the presenter, before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth.”

Pinkett Smith has previously spoken about deciding to shave her head as she suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss.

Smith, who later won the Best Actor award, used his acceptance speech to give a tearful apology to the Academy and “all my fellow nominees” – but not Rock.

Mr Hoare, who chairs the Commons Northern Ireland Committee, tweeted: “Re Will Smith incident @theoscars22live I’d just hope if someone thought it in good taste to make a joke at the expense of a medical condition of my wife then I’d get up and lamp him.

“The *joke* was tasteless.”

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said Rock was “mistaken” to make the joke but “violence is never the answer”.

He told LBC: “Violence is never the answer to any problem-solving, as Will Smith admitted himself in that tearful, heart-wrenching apology.

“I think we should also remember – and I’m the Education Secretary – that actually sometimes even a joke can be below the belt.

“When a joke is about somebody’s wife and her illness – she has alopecia – it is wrong. I think Chris Rock was mistaken to do that to Mrs Smith.”

He added: “I have to say, a first Oscar for one of my favourite actors was wonderful to see – marred by that incident, sadly.”

Asked how he would explain the incident to children if he was a teacher, he told BBC Breakfast: “I would say, don’t do it.

“You could see Will Smith – and my heart was broken when I saw him, that tearful apology, he apologised immediately.

“It was hard for him because it was someone who made a joke about his wife and her illness. That’s not easy but he regretted it and he apologised immediately.

“It is heart-breaking when you lose control of your emotions in that way, but I think it is important not to allow yourself to cross that line, and he apologised immediately, which is good to see.”

Labour leader Keir Starmer said he was “pretty shocked” by the incident.

He told LBC: “Anybody who insults family members excites something quite emotional in all of us.

“But on the other hand, to go up and hit someone in that way is wrong, I’m afraid. It was the wrong thing to do.”

Mr Starmer said he was “struck by the fact that it didn’t appear to be completely spontaneous” – saying Smith appeared to absorb the comments calmly and then reacted.

“I’m sorry, for me that’s the wrong side of the line,” he added.

Smith won’t face charges over the incident as Rock declined to file a police report.

A spokesperson for Los Angeles Police said it is “aware of an incident between two individuals during the Academy Awards programme [which] involved one individual slapping another.

“The individual has declined to file a police report. If the party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report.”

Smith won his first Academy Award for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard.