American actor Will Smith almost missed receiving his Oscar trophy.

As it became known on Thursday, after the 53-year-old slapped presenter Chris Rock during the film award ceremony on Monday night, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) were already behind the scenes to arrest him.

But Rock stood up for Smith and prevented his arrest.

"Officials said it was an assault and they were prepared to take him away," Oscars producer Will Packer told ABC on Thursday.

About 30 minutes after Rock refrained from arresting Smith, the actor had won Best Actor for his role in the biopic King Richard, the story of the father of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams.

In his acceptance speech, Smith apologized to the audience and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the organizers of the gala, but made no mention of rock.

The public plea for forgiveness for the 57-year-old comedian and actor only followed on Tuesday in a social media post allegedly formulated by Smith's lawyers.

The film academy later said the actor and rapper had refused to leave the Dolby Theater as requested after the act of violence.

Jada Pinkett Smith: 'I'm comfortable without hair'

Smith slapped Rock after he made a joke about the actor's wife Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head.

The fifty-year-old has been bald for four years because of the hair loss disease alopecia.

As she has let viewers of her show "Red Table Talk" know several times, she now feels comfortable without hair.

"I don't give a damn what people think of my bald head because I love it," Pinkett Smith wrote on Instagram.

Still, she didn't seem to like Chris Rock's quip.

A video from the Dolby Theater posted online Thursday showed her laughing as Smith swung at Rock.

After the scandal that overshadowed the 94th Academy Awards, the couple partied at the Oscars party in Vanity Fair.

The film academy has since launched an investigation into Will Smith.

Although the fifty-three-year-old is likely to be able to keep his Oscar, he is threatened with expulsion from the Academy.

Attending future award ceremonies is also likely to be over for Smith.