Will Smith just won an Emmy Award.
No, that's not Will Smith.
The 53-year-old British TV producer who created the Apple TV+ series “Slow Horses” took to the stage on Sunday night to accept the award for outstanding writing for a drama series at the Emmys 2024, and he joked about having the same name as the famous actor who slapped Chris Rock on stage at the 2022 Oscars.
“First of all, calm down. Despite my name, I come in peace,” he joked.
The audience laughed at this remark.
It has been two and a half years since actor Will Smith, 55, sensationally stormed the stage of the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 27, 2022, and attacked Rock, 59, in front of the audience and TV cameras after Rock joked about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, during the Oscars.
“Jada, I love you,” Rock said while presenting the award for documentary feature. “‘G.I. Jane II’ — can’t wait to see it.”
Rock was referring to Pinkett Smith's shaved head, which was the result of the hair-loss disease alopecia.
Angered, Smith shouted at Rock from his seat twice, “Keep my wife's name out of your mouth”, then climbed onto the stage and slapped Rock.
Just minutes after the slap, Smith won a best actor Oscar for playing Richard Williams, the father of Serena and Venus Williams, in “King Richard.”
The slapping resulted in him being banned from attending the Oscars and all Academy Awards ceremonies for 10 years, but he was allowed to keep his award.
The “Independence Day” star apologized to The Rock in July 2022.
“There's no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment,” he said in a video. “There's no part of me that thinks that was the best way to deal with feeling disrespected or insulted.”
The other Will Smith felt very at peace when he arrived on the Emmy stage.
He thanked others responsible for “Slow Horses,” including lead Gary Oldman.
The spy thriller series, which returned with Season 4 earlier this month, is based on Mick Herron's series of novels.
Oldman, 66, stars alongside Jack Lowen, Kristin Scott Thomas and Jonathan Pryce.
The show received nine Emmy Awards this year, including Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, which it won, and Outstanding Drama Series.
