No 10 says ‘striking someone never the answer’ to PM question on Will Smith incident

Education secretary says ‘it’s important not to allow yourself to cross that line’

No 10 has insisted “striking someone is never the answer” after the actor Will Smith hit comedian Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars.

The incident came after Mr Rock made a joke during the ceremony about Mr Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, who has been open about suffering from alopecia, for having a shaved head.

The 53-year-old Mr Smith — named best actor at the 94th Academy Awards — stormed on stage and slapped comic in the face, before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth.”

Asked whether Boris Johnson would condemn the Hollywood star for striking the comedian at the Oscars, a No 10 spokesperson said they had not discussed the subject with the prime minister.

But they added: “You’ll appreciate he’s been in a day of speaking to world leaders on Ukraine. On this the education secretary was entirely right this morning — obviously striking someone is never the answer”.

Earlier, Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, told LBC: “Violence is never the answer to any problem-solving, as Will Smith admitted himself in that tearful, heart-wrenching apology”.

Mr Zahawi also told BBC Breakfast: “It is heartbreaking when you lose control of your emotions in that way, but I think it’s important not to allow yourself to cross that line, and he apologised immediately, which is good to see”.

However, the Conservative MP Simon Hoare said Mr Rock’s joke at the Oscars was “tasteless” and that he hoped he would have stepped up to physically confront him.

“Regarding the Will Smith incident at The Oscars, I’d just hope if someone thought it in good taste to make a joke at the expense of a medical condition of my wife then I’d get up and lamp him,” the MP for North Dorset said, adding: “The joke was tasteless.”

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, was also among politicians to weigh into the incident, saying on Monday he was “pretty shocked” by the incident that overshadowed the Oscars event in Los Angeles.

While he said insults of family members “excites something quite emotional in all of us”, he insisted: “To go up and hit someone in the way is wrong”.

The Conservative MP Dehenna Davison also said she had written to Mr Smith inviting him to speak to a parliamentary group dedicated to raising awareness of the dangers of one-punch assaults.

Ms Davison, whose father Dominic was killed by a punch when she was 13 in 2007, told Mr Smith she was a “huge fan” of his work but said: “I was very disappointed to see you use your substantial platform not for good, but for the promotion of violence.”

She said her life was “turned upside down” by her father’s death and so when she became an MP she set up the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on One-Punch Assaults “to raise awareness about single-punch assaults, and to reinforce the message that one punch can kill”.