Recently, ABC News in Philadelphia sat down with Carolyn Smith, the mother of Will Smith, to speak on her son’s groundbreaking Oscar win. This past weekend saw the actor-artist receiving the highly coveted Best Picture award for his role in King Richard, which was released back in November and sees him playing as Richard Williams, the father and coach of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams. Simply put, she and the family are ecstatic about Will’s crowning achievement:

“I know how he works, how hard he works…I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting. When I heard the name, I was just, ‘Yes!'”

To the surprise of Carolyn and all watching, moments prior to said award win saw Will walk up on stage and slap Chris Rock, all in response to a joke that the Good Hair comedian made about Will‘s wife Jada Pinkett-Smith. According to Carolyn, this was unprecedented:

“He is a very even, people person. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen him go off. First time in his lifetime… I’ve never seen him do that.”

Nonetheless, Carolyn stated that she was “proud of him being him” in regards to “who he has become” today.

As previously reported by REVOLT, Will did take to social media to apologize to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Rock, and the Williams family for his actions:

“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness. I would also like to apologize to the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees and everyone watching around the world.”

Check out Carolyn Smith’s interview with ABC below.