Will Smith once slapped a prankster on a red carpet who tried to kiss him

The world is still reeling (and Chris Rock’s jaw is still probably stinging) from Will Smith’s Oscars slap on Sunday night.

But as it turns out, the actor has slapped someone on the red carpet before.

Back in 2012, when Smith was appearing at a premiere event for Men in Black 3 in Moscow, he was confronted by Ukrainian prankster Vitalii Sediuk.

Footage from AP shows the prankster posing as a journalist, going in to kiss Smith and taking him totally by surprise.

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The actor pushes him away, before saying “What the hell is your problem, buddy?” before slapping him in the face with the back of his hand.

Sediuk has been arrested and hit with restraining orders after his problematic altercations with celebrities in the past.

One incident saw him crawl under America Ferrera’s gown, while he was also arrested for trespassing at the 2014 Prabal Gurung runway show at New York Fashion Week.

Will Smith Slaps Kissing Reporter - RAW VIDEOwww.youtube.com

Brad Pitt was also allegedly struck by Sediuk at the premiere of Angelina Jolie’s movie Maleficent and took out a restraining order as a result.

The incident looked alarming at the time, but Smith made light of his encounter with Sediuk on the Late Show With David Letterman a few days later.

"I didn't beat up a guy!” he told him. “We're doing an interview and he says, 'I'm your biggest fan, can I have a hug?'

"So I go to give this joker a hug, and he tries to lean in and kiss me! It's just awkward."

He continued: "The [red carpet officials] were saying, 'We're sorry, that's just his schtick'. Well that's why his ass got schtuck."

Meanwhile, just hours after he slapped Rock at the Oscars for making a joke about his wife’s alopecia condition, a clip has resurfaced online showing Smith mocking a bald man who 'waxes his head'.

Will Smith hit Chris Rock at the Oscars on Sunday night Getty

Smith has also apologised for hitting Rock, saying he was ‘out of line and wrong’ in an apology addressed specifically to Rock and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In his apology, the King Richard star said he understood that jokes were part of his life as a public figure, and that “violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive”.

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