[WATCH] Jazzy Jeff Defends Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock

One of the most famous duos in Hip Hop history is the Grammy Award-winning DJ jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, who, even after three decades, still have each other’s back, and that is proven after what Will Smith’s longtime DJ and friend had to say about “the slap heard around the world.”

On a segment of Closed Sessions Legend Conversation at Dorian’s Through the Record Shop in Chicago, Jeff Townes, aka Jazzy Jeff, touched on the topic of slapping Chris Rock at this year’s Academy Awards by defending Smith’s actions, but at the same time admitting that the move was out of character of the otherwise comedic actor.

“Don’t get it twisted that it was something he was proud of,” Jazzy Jeff said. “It was a lapse in judgment, you know? I think the thing that I’ve realized is I don’t know too many people that has had the least amount of lapse of judgment than him. I can name 50 times that [Smith] should’ve smacked the shit out of somebody and he didn’t. So for him to have a lapse in judgment, he’s human. And I think a lot of the criticism comes from the people who don’t think people like that are human.”

See video footage of the interview below.