FLOYD MAYWEATHER called Will Smith EVERY DAY for ten days after the actor slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.

Smith was banned from the movie awards for 10 years after hitting Rock live on stage due to a joke the comedian made about the Hollywood star’s wife Jada Pinkett.

Floyd Mayweather did his best to support Will SmithCredit: Getty Images – Getty

The actor was banned from the gala for this hitCredit: Reuters
Smith, who later in the night won an Academy award, was forced to apologise for his actions.

And he revealed, while going through a dark period following the incident, it was boxing legend Mayweather who tried to comfort him.

Smith said in a video obtained by TMZ Sports: “I want to say something also about Floyd.

“So, we’ve met each other, we’ve seen each other around, but we weren’t like, friends.

“And, the day after the Oscars, for ten days he called me every day.

“And, he was like, ‘Ay, you know you the champ, right? You good? You know you the champ, right? I want you to hear my voice say it’.

“That was every day he called me … and it’s like, that’s my dude forever right there.”

Smith, who in 2001 played the iconic Muhammad Ali, later made a public apology to Rock.

He said: “I am human and I made a mistake and I’m trying not to think of myself as a piece of s**”.”

Pinkett-Smith claimed in December 2023 the incident actually helped save her marriage after they had separated in 2016.

She told the Daily Mail: “I nearly didn’t even attend the Oscars that year, but I’m glad I did.

“I call it the ‘holy slap’ now because so many positive things came after it. After all those years trying to figure out if I would leave Will’s side, it took that slap for me to see I will never leave him.

“Who knows where our relationship would be if that hadn’t happened?”

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith at the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar PartyCredit: Getty