Michael Bay would "100 per cent" work with Will Smith again, despite his Oscars slap.

Michael Bay would '100 per cent' work with Will Smith again despite his Oscars slap

Michael Bay would '100 per cent' work with Will Smith again despite his Oscars slap

The 57-year-old filmmaker directed Will in one of his first-ever movies, 1995 film 'Bad Boys', and he insists the 53-year-old star - who smacked Chris Rock on stage at this year's Academy Awards after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith - is usually a "very even-keeled guy".

Asked if he would work with Will again, he said: "Absolutely, 100 per cent. He's a very even-keeled guy. Very even-keeled."

Michael admitted what Will did was "wrong", but he believes people should be talking about the atrocities happening in Ukraine, following Russia's invasion, more than the Oscars incident.

He added to Entertainment Weekly: "At first, immediately I'm like, 'Did this just happen?' Then I saw the yell from Will. That's a real Will yell. Will is an amazing fighter. He's studied boxing.

"First of all, it's wrong to do, no matter what. Let's just get that out there. But when people said, 'Oh, he could have killed him.' No, a slap is different. A punch? Yeah, you can kill someone. Will gave him a slap.

"I'm thinking, everyone's talking about this, but you know what? You start thinking about life and it's like, Oh my God. Because I've been very affected by this Ukrainian war right now.

"I'm friends with the Klitschko brothers. I've been to Kyiv, I've met with the mayor. And I'm like, you know what? There are babies getting blown up by the hundreds right now and people are so concerned about this. I don't know. To me, it's just like, 'Enough of it.' All right, so a dramatic thing happened, but I just think we've got to get our priorities straight."

Earlier this month, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences banned Will from the Oscars for 10 years following the incident.

Will then admitted he "accepted" and "respected" the Academy's decision.

The incident came about after Chris had poked fun at Jada - who suffers from alopecia - for having a shaven head, comparing her hair to actress Demi Moore's shaven head in 1997 movie 'G.I. Jane'.

He said: "Jada, love ya. 'G.I. Jane 2', can't wait to see it.' "

Will laughed at first, but Jada looked unimpressed and the actor then strode onto the stage, slapped the comedian and walked away.

Chris said: "Oh Wow. Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me."

Will then shouted from his seat: "Take my wife's name out of your f****** mouth."

Chris said: "Wow dude. It was a 'G.I. Jane' joke."

The 'Men in Black' actor then again said: "Keep my wife's name out of your f****** mouth."

Just minutes after Will struck Chris, he was back on stage to accept the Best Actor award for his performance as Richard Williams - the father and coach of tennis pros Venus and Serena Williams - in 'King Richard'.

Will has since said sorry to Chris, insisting the incident was "not indicative of the man I want to be".

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