With the entertainment world reeling from what happened at the Oscars, there was naturally one question being asked as celebrities made red carpet appearances at the after parties.
One such star who gave his thoughts on the incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock at Sunday’s Academy Awards was Liam Payne.
The former One Directioner was in attendance at Elton John’s annual Oscars bash, and during a live red carpet interview with Good Morning Britain, he was asked about Will appearing to slap Chris onstage after the comic made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
As Liam spoke at length on his feelings on the matter, it was his accent that got everyone talking.
Liam, who hails from Wolverhampton, left many social media users baffled as he spoke on the ITV breakfast show on Monday morning, with the clip soon going viral.
More shocking than THAT slap, THIS accent pic.twitter.com/I5OkVXgflu
— Erron Gordon (@errongordon) March 28, 2022
I can’t take this accent. What’s going on? https://t.co/JqaL9oAP9K
— Claire Eaton-Rutter (@cjrutter) March 28, 2022
What in God’s name has happened to Liam’s accent?! He sounds in Payne https://t.co/xtx9gLSJeE
— jack rem x (@jackremmington) March 28, 2022
Everyone’s ignoring the bigger scandal. Liam Payne has a whole new accent. https://t.co/xawuVwhnM6
— Liz Bates (@wizbates) March 28, 2022
The weird accent, him inserting himself into the situation and bringing up that he is from Wolverhampton all makes this one of the most iconic things I’ve ever seen this is amazing https://t.co/uhI06lqZrZ
— Graham (@gham1877) March 28, 2022
This is very unrelated to the video but has Liam’s accent always been like this? I’m very confused https://t.co/G6dI7kyGWD
— HabKat (@Habibakatsha) March 28, 2022
And the Oscar for most confused accent goes to.... https://t.co/KA2XWslLsx
— Laura Hendry (@lghendry) March 28, 2022
Quietly the best piece of content surrounding the Will Smith incident so far: Liam Payne gushing like an LA wellness influencer about 'one of the world's greatest emoters', in a hybrid accent of totally inexplicable origin + managing to drop in that he sold out Madison Sq Garden. https://t.co/1HwUOOxvpR
— Ciaran Varley (@CiaranVarley) March 28, 2022
Liam Payne is from Dublin now. Please update your records. https://t.co/Fgx5SlEX3t
— Jamie East (@jamieeast) March 28, 2022
“I believe whatever he felt that he did, he had the right to do,” Liam said of Will’s apparent slap. “I also felt like there were three losers in one fight... It’s a very sad thing.”
Seemingly referencing Will’s subsequent acceptance speech after he won Best Actor for his role in King Richard, Liam continued: “It was a powerful moment for me to watch one of the world’s best emoters ever we’ve seen speak from the heart, and I would rather take the beauty out of the situation than the pain.
“But I had to leave my chair, I’ll be honest with you. It got me really deep.”
During his acceptance speech, Will apologised “to the Academy and my fellow nominees”, adding: “Thank you for this honour... I hope the Academy invites me back. Thank you.”
Meanwhile, the Academy has issued a statement over the matter, while the LAPD has said that Chris will not be pressing charges over the incident.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.