Liam Payne has weighed in on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars and sparked an unexpected new talking point in the process – his “horrific” new accent.
The former One Direction singer, 28, who hails from Wolverhampton, had a lot to say about the shocking moment Mr Smith, 53, got up on stage and attacked Mr Rock, 56, after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair. Moment’s later, he was named best actor for his role in King Richard.
“Will Smith actually used to live behind my house. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing his son and daughter very well. We did Men in Black III with him,” Mr Payne told a GMB reporter.
“I believe that he felt whatever he did, he had the right to do. I also felt there were three losers in one fight. He didn’t know, being Chris Rock, he didn’t do what he had to do, being Will Smith, and she did nothing, being Jada.”
The Little Things hit-maker continued: “It’s a very sad thing, but there was a powerful moment for me to sit and watch one of the world’s best emoters ever we’ve seen speak from the heart and I would rather take the beauty out of the situation than take the pain.
“But I had to leave my chair, I’ll be honest with you, it cut me really deep, and I don’t get deep about these things but I’m a big movie fan.
“Out of a horrible moment, there was a little bit of beauty in what came on and I’m sure everyone is very apologetic about what happened, it shouldn’t have happened,” Mr Payne concluded.
Having taken all of this in, the internet had questions of another nature.
“I need this WHOLE speech printed on a t-shirt straight away! What’s with the Irish/Dutch/Scouse accent!? Liam, Luv, you’re from Wolverhampton!?” remarked one Twitter user.
“I can’t stop watching this and playing “how many accents can you spot?” - any advances on 4?” agreed a second.
“Liam Paynes accent on GMB at the Oscars is horrific #gmb #oscars (sic),” lamented a third.
While a fourth announced: “Biggest scandal of last nights Oscar’s is what’s happened to #liampayne accent.”
