Actor Will Smith has apologized to comedian Chris Rock for hitting him at the Academy Awards show on Sunday. Mr Smith shocked the audience when he walked onto the stage and slapped Mr Rock around the face. Rock was presenting the Oscars ceremony. He made a "joke" about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The joke was about Ms Smith appearing in an imaginary movie in which the star has no hair. Ms Smith suffers from a hair loss condition called alopecia. This causes many women a lot of stress and a lack of confidence. In Mr Smith's apology, he said: "Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear, and I reacted emotionally."

Forty minutes after the on-stage slapping incident, Will Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in the movie "King Richard". In the movie, he played the part of the father of tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams. In his acceptance speech, Mr Smith apologized to the Academy, the attendees at the show and everyone watching around the world, but not to Mr Rock. That apology came a day later. Smith said: "I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not [a sign of] the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness." The Academy said it is "investigating" the incident.