The shocking moment when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock across the face is still a trending topic on social media. However, Smith’s former castmate shared her thoughts on the controversial incident. 

Tatyana Ali, who played Ashley Banks on the ’90s hit sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, took to Twitter on Sunday and expressed how she felt after witnessing the altercation at the Academy Awards. Ali explained that even though she still loves and supports Smith, his actions were unacceptable. 

“I love #WillSmith very much. @chrisrock didn’t deserve to be hit. Period,” Ali wrote. 

She continued, “My heart aches for what has happened. I don’t know what caused that chaos & confusion, but I do know that Will has a big heart. I’ve seen him many times try his best to do what is right. I believe in him.”

While some Twitter users agreed with the 43-year-old, others criticized Smith for his actions and predicted his career in Hollywood would be over. 

“I’m team Will. Years of receiving verbal abuse and bullying guised as comedy, his reaction was justified. The comedian in question has mocked and bullied too many folks over the decades. Enough is enough,” one user said.

Another user said, “Will has literally been perfect.PERFECT his ENTIRE CAREER! He has one (albeit awful) meltdown, and ppl are ready to burn him at the stake as if he never contributed one of the most highly syndicated wholesome BLACK TV shows, 8 BLOCKBUSTER movies, countless rap songs with zero curse.”

“Come on… People have done far worse and were able to bounce back and have a successful career. To assume that one poor decision will dictate the trajectory of this man’s life is ridiculous. Everyone makes mistakes and this is certainly one that Will can grow from,” a third user said.

Aside from Ali’s statement, another former castmate opened up about the incident. On Friday, Janet Hubert, the original Aunt Viv on the show, addressed the issue with a one-minute video on her Instagram account, Sis2Sis reported.

“Some of y’all need to stop coming for people on the Instagram page and on their Twitter page and whatever, talking that kind of smack you wanna talk, thinking we ain’t gonna smack back,” Hubert said. “Sometimes, you get smacked back. And Will Smith is a grown-a** man, and I am an old-a** grown woman. And he ain’t gonna tell me what to say. I ain’t kissin’ nobody’s a**, but I will kick it. So some y’all need to understand, sometimes you go too far.”

She added, “And just like Will said, we bleed, we hurt from some of the things you sayin’, and you think we supposed to take it. No, we are not. Now, there’ve been quite a few people that I’ve wanted to smack, but I didn’t because if I probably coulda, I would if I coulda.”

The 66-year-old even shared a list of celebrities she would have gotten physical with long ago. “Let’s see Wendy [Williams], Kevin Frazier, Michael Yo, Tamron Hall, quite a few. But I chose to do it verbally. So some of y’all need to stay in your lane and stop telling us what to do.”

While the former castmates shared their thoughts, the Oscars debacle will remain a topic of discussion on all social media platforms.