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Will Smith banned ... but keeps the Oscar award

Published:Saturday | April 9, 2022 | 12:07 AM
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The Oscars were held on Sunday, March 27 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
AP
The Oscars were held on Sunday, March 27 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Will Smith (right), hits presenter Chris Rock on stage while presenting the award for Best Documentary Feature at last month’s Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
AP
Will Smith (right), hits presenter Chris Rock on stage while presenting the award for Best Documentary Feature at last month’s Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Chris Rock appears at the FX portion of the Television Critics Association Winter press tour in Pasadena, Calif., in 2020, left, and Will Smith appears at the 94th Academy Awards nominees luncheon in Los Angeles on March 7, 2022. Smith was banned from th
AP
Chris Rock appears at the FX portion of the Television Critics Association Winter press tour in Pasadena, Calif., in 2020, left, and Will Smith appears at the 94th Academy Awards nominees luncheon in Los Angeles on March 7, 2022. Smith was banned from the Oscars, other film academy events for 10 years for slapping Rock onstage at Academy Awards.
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Will Smith has been banned from the Oscars for 10 years, but the 53-year-old King Richard star has not been stripped of his Best Actor trophy, which he won at last month’s ceremony.

Smith will not be permitted to attend the Oscars ceremony for a decade after the organisers labelled his slap of comedian Chris Rock at last month’s award show “unprecedented”.

In a statement released by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday, the President David Rubin, and CEO Dawn Hudson, said: “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.”

The Academy determined that “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”.

On Friday afternoon after the decision was reached, the 53-year-old Best Actor winner said in a statement:”I accept and respect the Academy’s decision.”

Smith’s wife Jada will still be allowed to attend in-person events.

RESIGNATION

Prior to Friday’s announcement, there was much speculation as to whether Smith would have been stripped of his award and there appeared to be a split among those making the decision. He had already resigned from the academy, so there was no need for them to rescind his membership as they did with Harvey Weinstein.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a 54-member board of governors, which The Sun reported “will make the ultimate call, but are having a difficult time coming to a consensus and are almost entirely split.”

Reports are that the hesitation towards taking the step of stripping Smith of the Oscar was based on the fact that “sexual predators Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski have not had their Oscars taken away”.

In stripping Weinstein of his membership in 2017, the academy issued a statement saying it wanted to “separate itself from someone who does not merit the respect of his colleagues but also to send a message that the era of wilful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behaviour and workplace harassment in our industry is over”. The academy also said it would establish standards of conduct for its members.

Weinstein won one Oscar as an individual – Best Picture for 1998’s Shakespeare in Love which he produced – but his Weinstein Company has been involved in 81 wins. He was handed a 23-year prison sentence in March 2020 after being found guilty of committing a first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape.

The decision by Smith to resign means that he is no longer a voting member of the academy. As it stands, despite the ban, he will still retain his Oscar for Best Actor, and according to a Washington Post article, is still eligible to win awards in the future.

APOLOGY

Will Smith had addressed the incident in his Oscar-winning speech, saying: “I want to apologise to the academy. I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees. Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”

The academy’s statement on Friday praised 57-year-old comedian Chris Rock for his “maintaining his composure under extraordinary circumstances” and offered their gratitude to others for “their poise and grace during the telecast”.

The statement also said: “This action we are taking today in response to Will Smith’s behaviour 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.”

Will Packer – one of the producers of the 2022 broadcast - confirmed that Smith was asked to leave the show after he assaulted the former Everybody Hates Chris star, but he had not wanted people to “physically remove” the star.

Smith is believed to have hit the stand-up comic after he made a joke at his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s expense, as he made quips about her alopecia.

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in the film industry. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious and significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide.