Brooke Boney clashes with her Today co-hosts as she defends Will Smith

Brooke Boney clashed with her Today show co-hosts on Tuesday while discussing the infamous slapping incident that occurred at the Oscars on Sunday night.

The entertainment reporter, 34, defended Will Smith after the actor stormed the stage and attacked comedian Chris Rock, who had just made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

But Boney’s co-hosts Allison Langdon and Richard Wilkins strongly disagreed with her, and insisted ‘violence should not be the first resort’.

‘I’m not condoning violence, I don’t think it is appropriate, but there are people who love UFC and boxing and are looking at this saying, “This is the most extreme case of barbaric behaviour we’ve ever seen,”‘ Boney said.

Langdon said it wasn’t fair to compare Smith’s behaviour to a boxing match because boxers ‘grant permission to fight each other’.

‘When you have two people stepping into a cage and agreeing to fight each other, there is permission granted,’ she said.

Wilkins also criticised Smith’s behaviour, adding: ‘I would be extremely angry [if someone joked about my wife] and I would do something about it, but I would not hit somebody.’

Outburst: The entertainment reporter, 34, defended Will Smith after the actor stormed the stage and attacked comedian Chris Rock (pictured), who’d just made a joke about Smith’s wife

Today co-host Karl Stefanovic sided with Smith, agreeing that such a hurtful joke hits differently when it’s ‘about your wife’.

However, he did acknowledge the rapper-turned-actor had ‘lost the plot’ by taking things physical during the live telecast.

Boney responded: ‘I think the sad thing here is so many people are upset about Chris getting slapped when you’ve got someone with an international platform making fun of someone who has a hair-loss condition. I’d be more upset about that.’

Sunday’s slapping incident occurred after Rock cracked jokes about Jada Pinkett Smith’s ‘G.I. Jane’ haircut, referring to the Demi Moore character who famously had a shaved head in the 1997 film. Jada suffers from hair-loss condition alopecia. 

A fair comparison? ‘There are people who love UFC and boxing and are looking at this saying, “This is the most extreme case of barbaric behaviour we’ve ever seen,”‘ Boney said

The shocking scene, broadcast live around the world, stunned both the live audience at the Dolby Theatre and TV viewers.

After Smith strode out on stage and slapped Rock with an open right hand, Rock staggered and exclaimed ‘wow, Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.’

Smith, visibly emotional, walked back to his seat in the audience and shouted: ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.’

Disagree: Richard Wilkins criticised Smith’s behaviour, saying: ‘I would be extremely angry [if someone joked about my wife] and I’d do something about it, but I would not hit somebody’

The exchange was muted on a delayed telecast in much of the US, but was aired in full to some international audiences.

Smith later used his acceptance speech for his first Academy Award to defend storming onto the Oscars stage.

He won Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the determined father who raised tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, in ‘King Richard.’

Comments: Sunday’s slapping incident occurred after Rock cracked jokes about Jada Pinkett Smith’s (left) ‘G.I. Jane’ haircut, referring to the Demi Moore character who famously had a shaved head in the 1997 film. Jada suffers from hair-loss condition alopecia