Kevin Hart believes Will Smith and Chris Rock should be given some time to "recover" from their Oscars controversy.

Kevin Hart has heaped praise on Will Smith

Kevin Hart has heaped praise on Will Smith

The 43-year-old actor thinks the movie stars ought to be given some time and space by the public, after Will hit Chris during the Oscars earlier this year after the comedian made a joke about Will's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Kevin said: "People make mistakes, and from mistakes they should be allowed time to f****** recover … And that this is no longer the world’s problem, it’s Will and Chris’s problem. Let them deal with that.

"The world should step out of it and let them recover."

Will, 54, faced heavy criticism following the Oscars controversy.

But Kevin still looks at Will as a trailblazer for black actors in Hollywood.

He said on the 'Drink Champs' podcast: "Will Smith is the reason why the idea of African Americans attached to global IP is normal.

"Studios took the gamble on more leads of colour because of the work that Will Smith, Denzel [Washington] were doing in the beginning, right? You need the faces that are giving the universal return. So I’m not gonna s*** on Will and act like he hasn’t been, and wasn’t, that guy."

Meanwhile, Will recently blamed being "fogged out" and "fuzzy" for not saying sorry to Chris at the time.

The Hollywood star resigned from the Academy in the wake of the row and was subsequently banned from the Oscars and all of the organisation's events for the next decade.

Will said: "I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk ... when he is, he will reach out. So I will say to you, Chris, I apologise to you.

"My behaviour was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk."