It will probably go down as one of the most memorable moments in Oscars history but Holly Willoughby said it was 'hard' to talk about on This Morning.
Of course, we are referring to the moment Will Smith stormed the stage at the 94th Acadamy Awards ceremony and took a physical swipe at comedian Chris Rock. It came after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Smith appeared to take offence at a gag comedian Rock made about his wife's haircut. Red Table Talk host Pinkett Smith has previously spoken about her struggles with alopecia and said it is what prompted her to shave her head.
Rock said: "Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2," prompting the actress to roll her eyes. Despite reportedly being seen smiling at first, Smith was soon up out of his chair and walking up on stage where he hit Rock in the face in front of the star-studded audience at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
He then returned to his seat, leaving a stunned Rock on the stage before shouting twice: "Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth."
Rock was clearly flustered as he tried to resume presenting the best documentary feature category. He is yet to comment publicly on the incident but it is reported that he is not pressing charges.
The shock bust-up has been the talk about many of the UKs' biggest daytime shows, including Good Morning Britain and This Morning. Hosts Holly and Phillip Schofield discussed the controversial altercation on the ITV show alongside their American entertainment correspondent Sam Reuben, show regular Gyles Brandreth and LBC's Julia Hartley-Brewer as the subject dominated their 'This Morning's View' segment."
After Phil, 59, said it was "unexpected," Holly, 41, said near the start of Monday's show: "There is no excuse for any violence, and it was an assault on somebody. Whether or not people were saying, 'It was just a joke'.
"It was a joke about somebody that’s got a condition, which is obviously for her, you can see her reaction straight away. She doesn’t want that being brought up in an auditorium, it’s not funny, it's something that she is living with."
Holly and Phil later spoke to viewers in a phone-in after they asked for their thought on the incident which has overshadowed a record-breaking night and to discuss occasions where the "red mist" had come over them.
One viewer who the hosting duo spoke to said: "Will is still on such a high level, he’s resorted to violence and I think if it was any of our kids, they’d be reprimanded so I think he should be reprimanded as well."
Phil then told her: "I think the world seems to be reprimanding him at the moment, or certainly a lot of it," before Holly then moved the conversation on to speak about apparently video clips of him at the afterparties dancing.
"He’s trying to clearly change the narrative of this story," she said. "We are humans, is there a moment ever when you know, something like that happens and you are not thinking about what you are doing?
"I find it really hard to talk about because every time I say something out loud, you're thinking in your own head there is absolutely no excuse for it, so I caveat everything I am about to say but for the sake of this conversation, just to talk around it. Humans make mistakes."
The viewer went on: "Yes there is a red mist, and you do feel anger and want to shout and scream for your partner, but at the same time he’s made a decision to physically act out."
Holly then confessed: "I am actually surprised he was allowed to sit back in the auditorium. After slapping somebody and walking up and doing that, I am surprised.
"I know that he was a nominee but I'm surprised he was allowed to sit back down, because if any other person had gone up and slapped the host, or anyone, even if they had slapped anyone in the building, they’d have been taken out, so I’m surprised it got as far as that."
