Will Smith wins NAACP Image Award for outstanding actor

Will Smith won the NAACP Image Award for outstanding actor in a motion picture for his role in Emancipation. This is his first award since the infamous incident at the 2022 Oscars when he punched Chris Rock in the face on stage for making a joke about his wife.

Smith did not attend the ceremony to accept the award in person.

In the film, Smith plays a runaway slave who takes a trip to Baton Rouge.

Smith's award came nearly a year after the 2022 Academy Awards, when the actor slapped Chris Rock in the face after an unfortunate joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. Moments afterward, Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in King Richard. As a result of the altercation, Smith was banned from all Academy-sponsored events for the next decade.