Will Smith banned from Oscars for 10 years
Will Smith banned from Oscars for 10 years, over Chris Rock slap
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years following his slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards.
The move comes after a meeting of the academy’s board of governors to discuss a response to Smith’s actions.
The academy in a statement called Smith’s actions “unacceptable and harmful.”
Smith pre-emptively resigned from the academy last week during the run-up to the meeting and said he would accept any punishment the academy handed down.
Smith has not yet commented.
Will Smith is banned from the Oscars gala. Along with all other Academy events for 10 years. For slapping comic Chris Rock at the Oscars.
The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Science, which organises the awards ceremony, met virtually on Friday to discuss disciplinary action.
Smith has apologised for his actions and resigned from the Academy.
The actor hit Rock for joking about his wife’s shaved head, a result of the hair-loss condition alopecia.
Less than an hour later, he was awarded the best actor award. For his role in “King Richard.” Playing the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams.
The Academy said the Oscars had been “overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behaviour we saw Mr Smith exhibit on stage.”
In his resignation statement, Smith said he had “betrayed the trust of the Academy” and was “heartbroken” over his actions.
He added he would “fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct”.
His resignation means he will be unable to vote for future Oscars voters.
The Academy’s disciplinary review over the incident, was originally scheduled for 18 April. Was fast-tracked after Smith resigned.
Few have ever resigned from the academy. Four members – producer Harvey Weinstein, actor Bill Cosby, director Roman Polanski and cinematographer Adam Kimmel – have been booted over sexual misconduct allegations, while actor Carmine Caridi was expelled in 2004 for pirating screener videos given to him.
The standards of conduct laid out by the film academy contained various disciplinary options for Smith. Such as excluding him from future Oscars ceremonies, revoking his eligibility for awards or taking back his newly won Oscar.
Only one Oscar has ever been taken back. A feature called “Young Americans” won the best documentary in 1969 but was found ineligible for the award that year.
Late last month, actor Whoopi Goldberg – a member of the academy’s board of governor – predicted Smith would face “big consequences” but said “we’re not going to take that Oscar away from him.”
Beyond the Academy’s actions, at least two studios – Sony and Netflix – are pausing their projects with Smith.
Rock began his latest stand up comedy tour shortly after the Oscars telecast, and has not commented publicly on the slap. He told fans at a show last month that he is “still kind of processing what happened” and would talk about the incident “at some point”.