Williams defends Will Smith

LOS ANGELES - Richard Williams has broken his silence to defend Will Smith, who portrayed him in the Oscar-winning biopic King Richard, after the actor’s infamous Oscar’s slap.

Almost one year on from the incident, the father of Serena and Venus Williams (81), shared his support for the 54-year-old and even claimed he ‘didn’t feel sorry’ for comedian Chris Rock (58), who was at the receiving end of the strike.

Having recently recovered from several strokes and a series of health crises, Richard doubled down on his support for Will during yesterday’s Good Morning Britain, saying, ‘‘I’ll always stand by him.

‘‘I think he has done the best thing he needed to do, but I would never be disgusted with Smith. Matter of fact, I appreciate Smith.’’

Nothing

When asked if he saw any wrongdoing in what occurred at the 2022 Academy Awards, Richard said, ‘‘I don’t see nothing wrong with that.’’

Richard also stated, ‘‘I don’t feel sorry for no one,’’ in relation to Chris and that ‘‘It’s time for everyone to forgive Will Smith.’’

The tennis coach even suggested the violence was justified because of Chris’s inappropriate joke about Will’s wife Jada (51).

‘‘I’m 81 years old, but when I was about 51 years or younger, I almost killed any damn one, so I think Smith did a great deal not to.’’

Richard went on to call for Will’s Oscars ban to be lifted and, in closing, had an amusing message for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star.

He joked, ‘‘I’ll say my message to Smith right now. Thank you very much for being so good-looking, so handsome!’’