Celebrities are reacting to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock for the comedian's joke about Jada Pinkett Smith at the Oscars, and opinions are divided

Speaking to People at the Governors Ball after the ceremony, Tiffany Haddish said that Smith deciding to "stand up" for his wife after Rock's joke was "the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"As a woman, who has been unprotected, for someone to say, 'Keep my wife's name out your mouth, leave my wife alone,' that's what your husband is supposed to do, right? Protect you," Haddish said.

"And that meant the world to me," she continued. "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."

Serena Williams attended the Oscars with her sister Venus Williams. Smith's role in "King Richard," a film about the Williams sisters' childhood that stars Smith as their father Richard, earned him the Oscar for best actor.

Serena posted several videos on her Instagram story that appeared to be reacting to the incident. In the first, she's silent, facing the camera with her mouth open as her eyes scan from the side. In the second, she says that she had to sit down and put her drink down before eyeing the camera.

On Sunday night, Jaden Smith — the 23-year-old son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith — appeared to tweet in support of his father's actions.

"And That's How We Do It," Jaden tweeted. It's unclear where he was during the ceremony.

Judd Apatow has since deleted a tweet condemning Smith's actions, in which he said that Smith "could have killed" rock onstage.

"That's pure out of control rage and violence," the actor wrote in a tweet Sunday night, Insider previously reported. "They've heard a million jokes about them in the last three decades. They are not freshmen in the world of Hollywood and comedy. He lost his mind."

On Monday morning, Nicki Minaj published a series of tweets in support of Smith.

"I love Chris Rock," the rapper tweeted in the first of several tweets. "I don't think he would've made that joke had he known what Jada recently shared- but between him & the whole team @ the #Oscars you mean to tell me not One of y'all heard this woman just share this heartbreaking story? #ComeOnSon..."

"You just got to witness in real time what happens in a man's soul when he looks over to the woman he loves & sees her holding back tears from a 'little joke' at her expense," Minaj continued. "This is what any & every real man feels in that instant. while y'all seeing the joke he's seeing her pain."

In other tweets about the incident, Minaj expressed sympathy for Pinkett Smith losing her hair, and said that social media has made people feel like the husbands with a "front row seat" to their wives' pain wouldn't appear in real life.

"The Good Place" actor Jamella Jamil tweeted in support of Smith's actions, attaching an image of a Malcolm X quote to her statement.

"Will Smith said 'Not Today.' A man big enough to absolutely floor him, slapped him softly enough that Chris barely moved, because he made fun of his wife's alopecia on a world stage," Jamil tweeted several hours after the Oscars ended. "Don't say #protectBlackwomen for two years and then only condemn Will here. Come on..."

The quote she attached from Malcolm X reads: "The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman."

Comedian Kathy Griffin expressed disapproval in Smith's actions in a Sunday night tweet.

"Let me tell you something, it's a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a Comedian," Griffin wrote. "Now we all have to wrory about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters."

Payne spoke about his reaction to the incident after the show.

"I believe whatever he felt that he did, he had the right to do," Payne said.

"I also felt there were three losers in one fight," he continued. "He didn't know, being Chris Rock, he didn't want to do what he had to do, being Will Smith, and she did nothing, being Jada."

Payne said that Smith's acceptance speech for best actor was a "powerful moment," calling the actor "one of the world's best emoters." Smith opened the speech by saying that Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams who Smith played in his Oscar-winning role, was a "fierce protector of his family." Smith also cried and apologized to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and his fellow nominees.

"I had to leave my chair, I'll be honest with you, it cut me really deep," Payne said.

Leguizamo told Entertainment Tonight that at first he thought that the moment was a skit, until he realized that there was a "punch not a punchline." He also said that he would have liked Smith to apologize more directly to Rock.

"I thought Will's performance was amazing and I'm sorry that he tarnished it with this behavior," Leguizamo told ET. "I mean, we all, nobody likes to be made fun of but you gotta have a sense of humor about yourself. Can't take yourself that seriously. I mean, we're just acting, you know, let's just relax."

On The Breakfast Club, radio host Charlamagne Tha God praised Rock's reaction to Smith hitting him.

"Y'all gave Supreme Court Judge Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson a lot of love for showing restraint last week and she deserved that, but can we please drop one of the Clue's bombs for Chris Rock?" Charlamagne Tha God said.

"Cause not only did he show restraint, he kept the show moving, he had commentary after that incident happened, he's never stopped being Chris Rock, he never stopped being a professional," the host continued. "I respect his restraint because that could have went a whole different way, and he did that just to get to that moment for Questlove."

After Smith hit him, Rock went on to present the award for best documentary feature to "Summer of Soul," a film about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson.

Charlamagne also condemned people calling the 2022 the "blackest Oscars ever," saying that he doesn't like people "acting like violence and ignorance is Blackness." He also said that Smith "stepped on his own moment."

Stern spoke about the incident on his SiriusXM show on Monday, Page Six reported.

"This is a sign of great mental illness when you can't control your impulse," Stern reportedly said. "Not only that, it was hardly an insulting joke. It was not even a good joke."

"You don't provide security?" Stern said on the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "You don't have someone come up there? Chris Rock was just trying to make people laugh at the fucking ceremony, which was so long and boring."

Jason Momoa told People at the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscars Party that he was "pretty shocked" by the moment.

"You never know where people are at, you know? There's a tipping point for everyone, right? I've had my places," Momoa told People. "He can ask for forgiveness. Sometimes you're just sensitive. We're all sensitive. I'm not walking in his shoes, [but] I've definitely been in places like that."

"It's just people, we're under a microscope," Momoa continued. "I don't know what really it was for him, but he's an amazing human being. Both of them. And they'll work it out."

Rapper 50 Cent made several posts about the incident on both Twitter and Instagram.

In one, he wrote, "B!tch don't you ever play with me. LOL," accompanied by an image of Rock recoiling from Smith, who has his hand outstretched.

In another, he wrote, "You have to win Oscars to do this kinda shit. after i win i'm gonna slap the shit out of a few people. LOL," accompanied by a photo of Smith crying during his acceptance speech for best actor.

In another, he wrote, "chris back stage like f**k Will he snuck me, tell him i said come catch this fade. LOL."

In a post on Monday morning, the rapper praised Rock in a tweet, saying that he was "the man" in a post accompanied by an image of a Variety headline about Rock declining to file a police report after the incident.

The rapper made similar posts on Instagram, including one showing a shot of Smith hitting Rock accompanied by the logo for "Everybody Hates Chris," the 2000s sitcom inspired by Rock's teenage life.

"you think this a joke b!tch ! pop," 50 Cent captioned the image.

Actor Colman Domingo commented on the incident in an interview with Variety on the red carpet for the Vanity FAir Oscar Party.

"I thought, he's from West Philly, just like I'm from West Philly. We're very passionate people," Domingo said.

"I just thought in the moment probably his passion got the best of him, and that's about it. He knew, when he had his acceptance speech, that I think he understood his shortcoming in that moment and went to apologize to all of us and to everyone," Domingo continued. "Because he's such a graceful actual gentle human being, and so I know that's where he really leads, but I think his emotions got the better of him."

Actor Sophia Bush tweeted about the incident, condemning Smith's actions as well as Rock's initial joke.

"Violence isn't ok. Assault is never the answer," she wrote. "Also? This is the 2nd time that Chris has made fun of Jada on the #Oscars stage, & tonight he went after her alopecia. Punching down at someone's auto-immune disease is wrong. Doing so on purpose is cruel. They both need a breather."

NBA star Stephen Curry tweeted about the incident late Sunday.

"Like everybody..I'm still in shock about the whole thing," he wrote. "But in all the uncessary drama, at least we got the line of the night from Denzel...'In your highest moments, be careful, that's when the devil comes for you!'"

Curry was referencing remarks that Smith said Denzel Washington had told him between the onstage incident and Smith's acceptance speech for best actor.

In the speech, he said that Washington had told him, "At your highest moment, be careful. That's when the devil comes for you."

"Circle of Friends" actor Minnie Driver commented on the incident in an interview with Variety at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party.

"It was deeply personal, deeply personal that we were all privy to something that was emotions running really high," Driver said.

"I really hope they will make up later. It was hard though. It was hard to watch," she continued. "It's hard to watch somebody's pain like that be... I understand, I understand all the sides of it."