Will Smith used his Best Actor acceptance speech to apologise for his earlier outburst where Chris Rock was assaulted live on stage.

Smith won the Oscar for his amazing performance in King Richard, where he played tennis greats’ Venus and Serena Williams’ father.

“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family” he began before tearfully continuing.

“I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people. I know to do what we do, you gotta be able to take abuse, you gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you, you gotta be able to have people disrespecting you, and you have to smile and pretend like that’s okay.”

“I want to apologise to the Academy I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment and I’m not, I’m not crying for winning an award, it’s not about winning an award for me, it’s about being able to shine a light on all of the people.”

He ended his speech thanking the cast and crew of King Richard, the Williams family, and his own family, saying, “I hope the Academy invites me back. Thank you.”

Earlier, Smith had walked on stage and seemed to slap Rock after he jokingly referred to Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith as G.I Jane due to her shaved head, a result of her having alopecia and had spent some time documenting her journey with the condition which causes hair loss.

After sitting back down, Smith then yelled to Rock to “Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth.

You can watch it here, a warning it’s pretty confronting…

Academy Awards chris rock Oscars will smith