The chancellor appeared to echo Smith by saying it was ‘wrong to come after my wife’
Rishi Sunak has referenced Will Smith‘s Oscar’s night attack on Chris Rock, saying he is relieved he “didn’t get up and slap anybody” over attacks on his wife over her financial ties to Russia.
Speaking on the BBC’s Newscast podcast on Thursday, the chancellor said he’d had a difficult week, after his wife’s business dealings had been revealed.
Sunak joked: “Someone said, ‘Joe Root, Will Smith, and me – not the best of weekends for any of us’.
“But I feel, on reflection, both Will Smith and me having our wives attacked – at least I didn’t get up and slap anybody, which is good,” he said.
Smith has dominated headlines all week after slapping Rock on Sunday after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, saying he couldn’t wait to see G.I Jane 2. Jada has alopecia.
Sunak has been forced to deny his wife, Akshata Murthy, was profiting from Vladimir Putin’s regime during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine after it emerged last week that she owns a 0.91 per cent stake in Infosys, which continues to operate in Russia.
The company, originally founded by Murphy’s billionaire father, NR Narayana Murthy, continues to offer its services in Russia despite most IT and consultancy firms such as PwC, McKinsey, Accenture, and KPMG ceasing to do so.
Sunak said he felt criticism levied at his wife was unfair: “It’s very upsetting and, I think, wrong for people to try and come at my wife, and you know, beyond that actually, with regard to my father in law, for whom I have nothing but enormous pride and admiration for everything that he’s achieved.”
He added: “You know, I think it’s totally fine for people to take shots at me. It’s fair game. I’m the one sitting here and that’s what I signed up for.”
Sunak’s comments appear to echo those of Smith, who after slapping Rock, yelled at him from the crowd, warning him to stop bad-mouthing her, saying:
After slapping Rock, Smith yelled at the comedian from the crowd, warning him to “keep my wife’s name out your f****** mouth”.
Last week, Sunak denied an accusation from Sky News that he was “potentially benefiting from Putin’s regime”, and ruled out discussing his family business.
“I don’t think that’s the case,” he said. “I am an elected politician and I am here to talk about what I am responsible for. My wife is not.”
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