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Will Smith is officially an Oscar winner, and along with his acceptance speech came a tearful apology. The King Richard actor made headlines worldwide after landing a slap on comedian Chris Rock's face during the award show's live ceremony.
The viral moment broke the internet, and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air has taken responsibility for his actions.
The 53-year-old took home the Best Actor award for his role as Richard Williams in the movie King Richard. Will Smith played the role of Venus and Serena Williams' father.
The three-time nominee beat Javier Badem, nominated for his movie Being the Ricardos, Benedict Cumberbatch for his role in The Power of Dog, Andrew Garfield for tick, tick…Boom! and Denzel Washington for The Tragedy of Macbeth.
Before winning Best Actor for the movie, Smith was nominated twice for the same at the Oscars for his performance in the 2002 biopic Ali and 2006's hit The Pursuit of Happiness.
What did Will Smith say in his acceptance speech?
Will Smith said that he received advice from Denzel Washington following the heated moment between himself and Chris Rock on stage. He said that he was warned to:
"Be careful. At your highest moment, that's when the devil comes for you."
The 53-year-old then expressed how grateful he was to the Williams family for allowing the actor to take on the project:
"I want to be a vessel for love. I want to say thank you to Venus and Serena and the entire Williams family for entrusting me with your story. That's what I want to do. I want to be an ambassador of that kind of love and care and concern."
Speaking of his character Richard Williams, he stated that the father was a "fierce defender of his family." Smith expressed that he was overwhelmed by "what God is calling on me to do and be in this world." He continued:
"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, and you gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you gotta be able to have people disrespecting you, and. you gotta smile, and you gotta pretend like that's OK."
Finally, the Philadelphia native apologized for his actions and burst into tears:
"I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment, and 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 the people, the entire cast and crew of King Richard."
Will Smith ended his speech by mentioning that "art imitates life" and jokingly said he looks like "the crazy father" similar to Williams. He added:
"Love will make you do crazy things. Thank you to the Academy. I hope you will have me back."
This is not the first award the King Richard movie has collected. Smith captured the BAFTA, Golden Globe, Critics Choice, NAACP Image, and the Screen Actors Guild awards for his performance.
