Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he "understands" why American actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars, adding he would also be "fiercely defensive" of his wife Jenny.
"I’m also fiercely defensive of anyone who would say anything about Jenny too, so I can understand it," Mr Morrison told a radio station in Brisbane on Thursday.
But the prime minister added: "That's not how you roll".
Mr Morrison's comments drew the ire of e, who said they sent a "dangerous" message.
"Show sympathy for acts of violence using love as the excuse, sure that’s a great message from a prime minister," Ms Tame said in a tweet.
"Perpetrators of paedophilia, sexual assault, domestic violence and other forms of abuse — who are already empowered— see this and are encouraged.
"Survivors —who are disempowered— see it and are discouraged.
"Messages like this are dangerous. They reinforce a stark imbalance of power."
It comes as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which oversees the Oscars, initiated disciplinary proceedings against Smith at Sunday's Oscars ceremony.
The board of governors met on Wednesday to begin action against Smith for violating the organisation's standards of conduct.
Discipline for Smith could include suspension, expulsion or other sanctions, the academy said.
Many have focused on why Smith was allowed to remain seated front row at the Academy Awards after the incident.
The academy on Wednesday suggested that it attempted to remove the actor from the audience.
"Things unfolded in a way we could not have anticipated," the academy said.
"While we would like to clarify that Mr Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognise we could have handled the situation differently."
A representative for the academy declined to give specifics on how it tried to remove Smith.
After Smith struck Rock in response to a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, several stars including Denzel Washington, Bradley Cooper and Tyler Perry spoke with the 53-year-old Smith.
The academy said Smith had the opportunity to defend himself in a written response before the board met again on 18 April.
The film academy earlier condemned Smith's onstage assault of Rock, but it used stronger language on Wednesday.
"Mr Smith's actions at the 94th Oscars were a deeply shocking, traumatic event to witness in person and on television," the academy said.
"Mr Rock, we apologise to you for what you experienced on our stage and thank you for your resilience in that moment. We also apologise to our nominees, guests and viewers for what transpired during what should have been a celebratory event."
A representative for Smith didn't immediately respond to messages.
Smith on Monday apologised to Rock, the academy and to viewers, saying: "I was out of line and I was wrong."
Only a small number of academy members have been expelled, including Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski and Bill Cosby.
Whoopi Goldberg, a member of the academy's board of governors, said on Monday on TV program The View that "we're not going to take that Oscar from him", but added that "nobody is OK with what happened".
Rock, who's yet to respond publicly to the incident, was to perform stand-up on Wednesday night in Boston.
