Writer Will Smith takes sly dig at his namesake star, says 'despite my name, I come in peace'

'Slow Horses' writer Will Smith's award-winning speech at Emmys 2024 will make you think about his namesake, 'The Pursuit of Happyness' star, Will Smith.

At the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Slow Horses creator bagged the award for outstanding writing for a drama series.

While accepting the trophy, he cracked a joke about movie star Smith's infamous slap at the 2022 Oscars, People reported.

"First of all, relax -- despite my name, I come in peace," Smith said to open his speech, referencing the moment when Academy Award winner actor Will, 55, slapped Chris Rock onstage shortly before he won his first Oscar for his role in 2021's King Richard.

The joke earned laughter from the audience as Slow Horses' Smith, who adapted the Apple TV+ series from author Mick Herron's Slough House spy novels, continued with his speech.

Slow Horses received six total nominations at Sunday's awards ceremony; Smith won for his work writing the show over fellow nominees Peter Morgan and Meriel Sheibani-Clare (The Crown), Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner (Fallout), Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, who were nominated for two separate Shogun episodes.

This year, 'Shogun' received a remarkable 25 nominations. The show's historic sweep began with the Creative Arts Emmys, where it secured an impressive 14 awards.

On the Primetime Emmy stage, the series added four more trophies to its collection, including awards for lead actors Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai.

The award ceremony was hosted by father-son duo Eugene Levy and Dan Levy. This event marked the second Primetime Emmy ceremony of 2024, following the rescheduled 75th edition, which was postponed from September 2023 to January 15, 2024, due to the 2023 Hollywood labour disputes.

In India, the ceremony was streamed live on Lionsgate Play.