Tiffany Haddish Sings Will Smith's Praises After Oscar Drama: 'That Meant The World To Me'

Tiffany Haddish has thrown her weight behind "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star after his surprise altercation with SNL's comedian at the 94th edition of the annual Oscars ceremony.

The night saw Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock in the face over a joke he made about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, which has since caused a social media uproar.

Following the incident at the Academy Awards on Sunday, March 27, Haddish arrived at the Governor's Ball and got candid with PEOPLE about why she is impressed by Will's actions. 

The "Girls Trip" actress said she found it beautiful when Jada's husband took to the stage and slapped Rock for making a joke about her hair. 

Haddish explained that, as a woman who has been unprotected, it meant so much to her to have someone ask others to keep his wife's name out of their mouth and leave her alone.

The Grammy winner believes that husbands are supposed to protect their partners, and, regardless of what the world thinks of it, Will's actions restored her faith in the existence of caring men. She said:

"That meant the world to me. And maybe the world might not like how it went down, but for me, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives."

Haddish noted that not many people dare to stand up for their wives. She also called out Rock, a friend of the couple, for his misbehavior.

The "Night School" actress revealed that the host did not run the joke by Jada, and his statement hurt her. She continued:

"If she wouldn't have been hurt, [Will] probably wouldn't have said nothing. But you could see he was clearly… And they exploited it. They exploited her, so 'I have to do something'… He protected his wife."

The outlet shared that the debacle took place while Rock was introducing the award for Best Documentary and said, "Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can't wait to see ya."

The "Red Table Talk" co-host battles an autoimmune disorder called alopecia which caused her hair loss, so she was unamused by his statement. 

Though Will laughed at Rock's joke, he later took to the stage and slapped him across the face, to the audience's surprise. 

The shocked host said, "Oh wow, Will Smith just smacked the s--- out of me," and the "King Richard" actor, who was now seated, replied, "Keep my wife's name out your f---ing mouth!" 

Rock tried to make light of his statement, saying, "Wow, dude, it was a G.I. Jane joke," but Will did not have it. He buttressed, "Keep my wife's name out your f---ing mouth!"

The "Madagascar" actor responded, "I'm going to, okay?" He then tried to salvage the situation by calling the occurrence the "greatest night in the history of television" and presenting the award.

Smith, who has been on a steady stream of award-winning for his lead role in "King Richard," also took home the coveted Best Actor award at Sunday's Oscars ceremony.

The Blast disclosed that while accepting his nod, the awardee apologized for previously taking to the stage to slap the host.

In a clip from Good Morning America, Will called Richard Williams a fierce defender of his family, adding that he is overwhelmed by what God is calling him to be in the world. 

The Alladin actor said he has been called on in life to "love people and to protect people and to deliver to my people and to be a river to my people."

Will noted that to be in the industry, people have to be able to take abuse and have people "talk crazy" about them and disrespect them while smiling and acting okay with it. He continued:

“But Richard Williams – and what I loved – Denzel said a few minutes ago, ‘At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.’”

He then apologized to the Academy and the other nominees for his outburst, which “Good Morning America” cut out of their posted clip.