Andrew Garfield addresses viral photo of him texting during Oscars

Andrew Garfield has discussed the viral photo of him texting during the Oscars ceremony.

The photo was taken after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock during the Academy Awards in late March and shows the British actor on his phone while presenter Kevin Costner introduced the nominees for Best Director.

Unlike many of the actors present on the night, Andrew never weighed in on the slap, despite being captured messaging directly after it.

Speaking on The View on Thursday, The Amazing Spider-Man actor said he felt "so bad" about texting during Kevin's speech.

"You know, Kevin Costner's introducing the director nominees in the most beautiful and elegant way, and I'm like, 'There's no way I'm gonna be on camera during this'... And everyone's texting me, asking me, you know, what they're asking me, like what the vibe in the room is," he explained, referencing "the vibe" after the slap.

The star justified texting during the show by saying, "At that moment, my friends took priority over Kevin. But I feel really bad about that."

When asked directly whether he was texting about the slap, Andrew replied that he didn't want to comment. He explained, "Everything's been said. There's no need for me to weigh in on that. Every possible version of the discussion has happened, and I have no interest in adding my voice to something that's already been so well-spoken (about)."