Crime, and punishment. The Motion Picture Academy has sentenced Will Smith for his on-stage slap of Chris Rock and his profanity-filled tirade that completely derailed the 94th annual Academy Awards March 27 and set off a worldwide furor.
Smith will be banned for 10 years from any and all Academy events including the Oscars. But he could still potentially be nominated for an award and the trophy he won as lead actor for his role in King Richard will not be taken away.
In a brief statement released shortly after the decision was handed down, Smith said he accepts and respects it.
In a preemptive move to circumvent his potential expulsion, Smith had already quit his membership in the Academy.
The organization appears to have bungled its response from the moment of the shocking eruption of violence at the ceremony when Smith was allowed to stay in his front row seat and give a rambling, nearly 6 minute speech after he won the trophy for best Oscar.
The Academy put out a vague and incredibly lame statement that night saying “it did not condone violence.” It did not mention Smith by name. The next day, it did release a statement condemning the actor’s behavior and said it was conducting a formal review but somehow waited until Wednesday to apologize to Chris Rock.
There was also much dispute about a line in the statement that said Smith was asked to leave but “refused.” The truth behind that can best be described as squishy. Apparently AMPAS honchos Dawn Hudson and David Rubin asked Smith’s publicist to ask him to leave and she later told them he “needed a minute,” which they interpreted as meaning he was going to leave.
Meanwhile, producer Will Packer who has cast Jada (and host Regina Hall who at this writing has said nothing about the entire incident) apparently ran up to Smith and told him that everyone wanted him to stay.
The rest is, to paraphrase Rock, television history.
Here is the letter that was made public after a reportedly “contentious” virtual meeting with the Academy’s 54 governors, which include Steven Spielberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Laura Dern, Ava DuVernay and Rita Wilson.
The 94th Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year; however, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage.
During our telecast, we did not adequately address the situation in the room. For this, we are sorry. This was an opportunity for us to set an example for our guests, viewers and our Academy family around the world, and we fell short — unprepared for the unprecedented.
Today, the Board of Governors convened a meeting to discuss how best to respond to Will Smith’s actions at the Oscars, in addition to accepting his resignation. The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards.
We want to express our deep gratitude to Mr. Rock for maintaining his composure under extraordinary circumstances. We also want to thank our hosts, nominees, presenters and winners for their poise and grace during our telecast.
This action we are taking today in response to Will Smith’s behavior is a step toward a larger goal of protecting the safety of our performers and guests, and restoring trust in the Academy. We also hope this can begin a time of healing and restoration for all involved and impacted.
Thank you,
David Rubin and Dawn Hudson
