Scott Morrison has sensationally claimed he understands why Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars given he is also protective of wife Jenny.
The Prime Minister made the comment on Brisbane radio on Thursday morning after he was asked if he ever felt the need to cross the floor to slap someone in parliament.
“I’m also fiercely defensive of anyone who would say anything about Jenny too, so I can understand it,” he laughed.
But he added: “That’s not how you roll.”
Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame slammed the Prime Minister’s comments, saying it was a “dangerous” message to send.
“Show sympathy for acts of violence using love as the excuse, sure that’s a great message from a prime minister,” Ms Tame said in a tweet.
“Perpetrators of paedophilia, sexual assault, domestic violence and other forms of abuse—who are already empowered—see this and are encouraged.
“Survivors—who are disempowered—see it and are discouraged.
“Messages like this are dangerous. They reinforce a stark imbalance of power.”
Will Smith’s actions caused global headlines during the week, launching a conversation about whether or not his reaction to the comedian’s comments about wife Jada’s hair loss was appropriate.
The Oscars altercation came after host Rock said: “Jada, I love you, GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.”
Demi Moore, 59, famously shaved her head for her role in the original 1997 movie.
Jada, 50, has been struggling with hair loss for years due to her alopecia diagnosis, and last year decided to shave it all off.
Smith, 53, stormed the stage and hit presenter Rock, 57, before shouting: “Leave my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.”
Later, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air legend won Best Actor for his role as Richard Williams in King Richard — a movie about the life and family of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams.
Smith tearfully apologised to the Academy during his acceptance speech.
He said: “I want to apolxjmtzywogise to the Academy, I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees.
“This is a beautiful moment, and I’m not crying for winning an award.”
Smith later released a statement on Instagram admitting he was “out of line” and saying sorry to Rock.
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable,” he wrote.
“Jokes at my expense are part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.
“I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong.”
Mr Morrison’s comments come after the youth wing of the Liberals was forced to delete a meme it posted of moment it created to attack Labor.
The group was just one of thousands who took to social media to make light of the matter.
But the post, which put the words “hard working Australians” over the comedian and “Labor’s higher taxes” over Mr Sith was blasted online.
It was captioned:”‘Labor can’t manage money, that’s why they come after yours.”
Former Liberal MP and outspoken critic of Mr Morrison Julia Banks called the post “disgusting”.
“There is so much to unpack in this disgusting political advertisement,” she wrote on Twitter.
“All I can say is that sadly it’s not surprising.
“They start young in the Liberal Party to nurture their toxic masculine culture.”
