Will Smith gets rare backing from his 'King Richard' costar in infamous Chris Rock slap incident

Will Smith is getting full support from his King Richard co-star, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in his infamous Oscar slap incident.

Aunjanue, 57, made a rare comment on Will's Oscar ban after he slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.

Defending Will's move, Aunjanue said on The Daily Beast’s Obsessed podcast, “I know that he wanted to protect his wife, and I stand by that."

She continued, “I stand with him for that."

Will lashed out at Chris after the comedian made fun of his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith’s buzzed haircut.

During that evening, Chris, unaware of Jada's alopecia (a hair loss condition), joked, “Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it!”

This prompted Will to leave his seat and approach Chris onstage to slap him. While returning back to his seat next to Jada, he said, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth!”

Following the notorious moment, Will was banned from attending future events of the Academy Awards for 10 years.

Aunjanue further argued on the podcast, "I think that this idea that First Amendment rights should protect everybody—I don’t think it should necessarily protect a*******.

“I don’t. I don’t. I really don’t, especially if you’re causing harm.”

Elsewhere during the conversation, Aunjanue gushed over working with Will on the King Richard set, noting that he was the "caretaker" of the cast.