‘Real reason’ why Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, according to Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid

SUSANNA Reid has revealed why she thinks Will Smith stormed the stage at the Oscars to slap Chris Rock.

The Good Morning Britain presenter insisted the award-winning actor wasn't reacting about the distasteful joke about his alopecia-stricken wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

Instead, she believes he "felt bad for laughing at the joke" - and felt he had to defend her honour.

Jumping in, Susanna replied: "I don't think it was about the alopecia joke.

"If you see his first reaction to the joke, he doesn't react in an angry way.

"It was his wife's reaction. There are other things going on and there's a lead up to this."

It came as...

• Will Smith was slammed for NOT apologizing to Chris Rock in his Oscars acceptance speech minutes after slapping him
• Fans were 'in tears' at deaf Coda actor Troy Kotsur’s emotional acceptance speech for his historic win
• Lily James wowed in pink lace as she joined Dame Judi Dench, Olivia Colman and other stars on the red carpet
• Kourtney Kardashian and fiancé Travis Barker made out on their Oscars red carpet debut
• Beyonce’s fans were stunned as Blue Ivy, 10, made a surprise cameo during her mom’s performance
• Kenneth Branagh was the night's biggest British winner with an Oscar for best original screenplay but Olivia Colman missed out

Richard added: "He probably felt bad that he was laughing at the joke

"Yes," agreed Susanna.

Her co-host Richard Madeley defended Will's reasoning for the slap- leading to a fiery clash between the presenters.

Will Smith, who went on to win Best Actor for his role as Richard Williams in King Richard said "love will make you do crazy things" in his acceptance speech.

But Susanna insisted there was no justification for what he did.

She told viewers: "Obviously you can see Will was furious about was said - and I'm not defending the joke - but really? It's 2022 and it's OK to get up on stage and hit somebody."

Richard said: "It's clearly not OK but it's happened and once it's happened you have to analyse the motives behind it.

"What I'm trying to suggest is, although you can say it was wrong, is it something you can say was understandable in the heat of the moment."