Piers Morgan claims Will Smith told him ‘don’t upset my wife’ in ‘unnerving encounter’ back in 2011

Piers Morgan has claimed that Will Smith told him “don’t upset my wife” in an “unnerving” encounter that took place a few years ago.

It comes after Smith shockingly slapped presenter Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscars ceremony last night (27 March), after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

“Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you,” said Rock, in an apparent reference to Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. Pinkett Smith stated last year that she shaved her head after struggling with alopecia.

Smith, who won the Best Actor prize later in the ceremony, walked on stage and struck Rock, before shouting at him: “Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth.”

Morgan has shared his thoughts on the incident in a column in The Sun, detailing a meeting he had with Smith while interviewing his wife back in 2011.

“A few years ago, I interviewed Jada Pinkett Smith for CNN, and Will turned up unannounced to support her,” wrote the former Good Morning Britain presenter.

“My first encounter with him was unnerving.”

He claimed that Smith yelled, “I wasn’t sure about you…. not sure at all!” while standing “inches” from Morgan’s face, staring into his eyes before grinning and adding: “But now I like you.”

“Before we started, he warned me: ‘Don’t upset my wife, Mr Morgan, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry,’” Morgan claimed.

The Independent has contacted Smith’s representative for comment.

While Morgan described Smith’s behaviour at the Oscars as “the ugliest ever seen at the Academy Awards”, he also defended the actor, saying he was “standing up for his wife”.

Find the full list of 2022 Oscar winners here. See the latest updates and reactions from the dramatic ceremony here, and read about the biggest talking points here.