MP whose dad died in ‘one-punch’ attack urges Will Smith to reply to open letter after Oscars slap

Danny Jones

She isn’t the first to have warned Smith that the incident could have been fatal

An MP whose dad died following a “one-punch” attack has warned that Will Smith‘s actions towards comedian Chris Rock could have ended similarly and hopes the actor will reply to her open letter aiming to raise awareness for these types of assault.

Dehenna Davison, the Conservative MP for the Bishop Auckland constituency, penned the letter to Smith on the morning after the now infamous slap at this year’s Oscars and urged him to reply on Tuesday’s episode of Good Morning Britain.

'There's a difference between reacting with words and reacting with violent actions.'

Dehenna Davison MP wrote to Will Smith following that dramatic moment at the Oscars to tell him about her father, who died of a single punch. pic.twitter.com/c4lkgA6A1M

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) March 29, 2022

Davison, who set up the All Party Parliamentary Group on One Punch Assaults and began working with the charity One Punch UK, was just 13 when her father was killed by a single blow to the head, insisting that the event turned her life “upside down”.

As she pointed out, while many may not think a single strike can cause death, many victims simply “stumble backwards, hit their head” or, as presenter Richard Madeley pointed out, a hit can exacerbate an “underlying weakness in the brain” or cause fractures and/or aneurysms.

As she explained in her letter, while the potential severity of one-punch attacks is concerning, it is also important to consider the grieving families that are left behind to deal with the tragic aftermath of such events.

We all need to use our platforms for good.#OnePunchCanKill | #Oscars pic.twitter.com/IKuF8UNFRP

— Dehenna Davison MP (@DehennaDavison) March 28, 2022

When asked what action she would like to see Smith take following her open letter, Davison told GMB that “the dream world is that he would respond and actually meet with our group and come and hear some of the stories of people who’ve lost loved ones through these assaults. Single punches, single blows”, adding that “it’s not always cases like my dad […] sometimes it’s just a small blow that takes someone completely off guard.”

Of course, she isn’t the only person to have warned that the attack could have been fatal; shortly after the slap itself, director Judd Apatow said Smith’s “rage and violence… could have killed him” in a since-deleted tweet.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi went some way to defend the 53-year-old, saying it was “heartbreaking” to see the King Richard star “lose control”.

Smith has since apologised for his actions on Instagram, stating that while he believes “violence is poison”, joking at the expense of his wife’s conditions was too much for him to bear.