Within forty minutes, Smith won the award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard. He focused his speech on his need to protect those around him and apologized to the Academy and to the other nominees, but not to Rock.[32] He received a standing ovation.[33] Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian said his speech "somehow had to make slapping Rock consistent with playing Richard Williams when the movie had actually been all about Richard Williams's insistence on high standards of behaviour and his heroically non-violent confrontation with hoodlums harassing his daughters."[34] The Economist described his acceptance speech, in which he appealed to God calling on him to do "crazy things" in the name of love, as "dangerous, self-serving cant".[33]