Carolyn Smith is thrilled her superstar son Will Smith finally won an Oscar.
“I know how he works, how hard he works…I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting. When I heard the name, I was just, ‘Yes!'” said Will’s mother in an exclusive interview with 6abc.
As the Smith family gathered in their family home in the suburbs of Philadelphia, the actor’s mother, sisters, and others dressed up and gathered around the TV to watch their hero.
But before the award was declared, there was a very awkward and stunning moment when Will Smith walked up on stage and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian joked about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her struggle with hair loss.
Will Smith, born and raised in West Philadelphia, always seemed calm and collected, lost it.
Even Smith’s mother admits she was surprised.
“He is a very even, people person. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen him go off. First time in his lifetime… I’ve never seen him do that,” said Carolyn Smith.
But the family says that moment doesn’t define him and that the actor puts his family first, that he’s loving and the one who keeps the family together.