London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

I know how Will Smith felt about his wife being criticised, says Rishi Sunak

I know how Will Smith felt about his wife being criticised, says Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak has said he finds it "very upsetting" that his wife has faced criticism over shares she owns in a tech company operating in Russia.

The chancellor compared his feelings to those of film star Will Smith, whose own wife was mocked at the Oscars.

But he joked: "At least I didn't get up and slap anybody, which is good."

Mr Sunak's wife Akshata Murty owns shares thought to be worth more than £400m in Indian firm Infosys, founded by her father, Narayana.

The chancellor has himself come in for several days of criticism over last week's Spring Statement, which opposition parties say did too little to address the spiralling cost of living.

He told the BBC's Newscast podcast: "I think it's totally fine for people to take shots at me. It's fair game. I'm the one sitting here and that's what I signed up for."

But he added: "It's very upsetting and, I think, wrong for people to try and come at my wife, and you know, beyond that actually, with regard to my father-in-law, for whom I have nothing but enormous pride and admiration for everything that he's achieved.

"And no amount of attempted smearing is going to make me change that because he's wonderful and has achieved a huge amount."

Mr Sunak also mentioned England cricket captain Joe Root, whose team lost a Test series to the West Indies at the weekend, and Mr Smith, who slapped comedian Chris Rock in the face when he mocked his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, over her alopecia at Sunday's Oscars.

Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock after he mocked his wife


He told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg: "Someone said, 'Joe Root, Will Smith, and me - not the best of weekends for any of us.'

"But I feel, on reflection, both Will Smith and me having our wives attacked - at least I didn't get up and slap anybody, which is good."

Multinational software giant Infosys has kept what it calls a "small team of employees based out of Russia" following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Labour and the Lib Dems have said Mr Sunak has questions to answer about whether his family benefits from the shareholding at a time when he is calling for UK businesses to divest from Russia.

Cost of living


UK inflation is surging, on the back rising food and energy prices, with Office for Budget Responsibility predicting that living standards will drop by 2.2% this year - the largest fall since the 1950s.

Labour has urged Mr Sunak to do more to reduce the pressure on households by imposing a windfall tax on profits made by gas and oil firms.

But the chancellor said: "I'm confident in what we've done. I know it's tough for people.

"We're facing a very difficult situation with the price of things going up and I want to do what we can to ameliorate some of that, but I'm also honest with people that we can't ameliorate all of it, sadly."

Mr Sunak added that he did not think increasing government borrowing to give households more help "would be sensible", adding: "Actually, it has the risk of making the problem worse when you've got inflation and interest rates going up."

He added: "Some of these things are difficult. They're certainly unpopular. But they're responsible and will help us in the long-term and I'm not going to deviate from that just for some short-term popularity gain."


Rishi Sunak and Will Smith both saw their wives mocked, but the chancellor says: "At least I didn't get up and slap anybody."


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
×