The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Friday that it will ban Will Smith from attending the Oscars for the next decade.
In a statement, academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said Smith will be banned from “any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually,” for a 10-year period starting April 8.
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“The 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,” the statement reads. “We also hope this can begin a time of healing and restoration for all involved and impacted.”
Smith issued a brief statement on the decision, per The Hollywood Reporter: “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision.”
The news comes less than two weeks after Smith slapped Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head while the comedian was presenting an award at the March 27 ceremony. Jada Pinkett Smith has been open about her struggles with alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss.
Rubin and Hudson also apologized for not addressing the incident during the telecast.
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“This was an opportunity for us to set an example of our guests, viewers and our Academy family around the world, and we fell short — unprepared for the unprecedented,” they wrote.
The incident shocked viewers around the world and led to several days of reaction and discussion. Will Smith, who was awarded Best Actor for his role in “King Richard” just minutes after slapping Rock, has since apologized for his actions. He also resigned his membership in the academy and said he was prepared to “accept any further consequences” that the organization deemed appropriate.
“The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences,” Smith said in a statement on April 1.
“I’m still processing what happened, so at some point, I’ll talk about that shit,” he said at Boston’s Wilbur Theatre. “It’ll be serious. It’ll be funny. But right now, I’m going to tell some jokes.”
Comedian Ricky Gervais, known for burning celebrities as a frequent host of the Golden Globes, said he would not have joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head at the Oscars. So Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock would not have happened, he concluded.
“I’ll get it out of the way,” he said at a show in London, per the Mirror. “I have not got any Will Smith material. I trended when that happened, and I was not even there.”
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“What has it got to do with me? People were going, ‘What would have happened if Ricky Gervais had been doing it [presenting an Oscar award)]?’” he continued. “Well, nothing, as I would not have made a joke about his wife’s hair. I would have made a joke about her boyfriend.”
Gervais was referring to Jada Pinkett Smith’s “entanglement” with rapper August Alsina, which she revealed in 2020. While Will Smith hinted last year that he and his wife had an open marriage, the couple said they were separated at the time of Jada Pinkett Smith’s dalliance with Alsina.
Gervais, however, is no stranger to jokes about alopecia, Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss condition. At the Oscars on Sunday, Rock made a “G.I. Jane” dig about it and an offended Will Smith hit him in the face onstage in a stunning TV moment.
Gervais joked at his recent show that he might change his tour name from “Armageddon” to “Alopecia,” the Mirror reported.
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After the Oscars incident, the comedian also shared a cringe-worthy tweet of his character from “The Office” making fun of people with alopecia.
Gervais could be considered somewhat of an expert on dishing out political incorrectness to a celebrity crowd. Watch him eviscerate Hollywood during his fifth Golden Globes hosting gig.
Will Smith has announced his resignation from the Academy following his “shocking, painful, and inexcusable” actions at last weekend’s Oscars.
The actor said he was “heartbroken” and would accept any consequences that emerged from his scheduled disciplinary hearing, in a statement announcing his decision.
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It comes less than a week on from the ceremony, during which Smith took to the stage and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
Moments later he was awarded the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in King Richard and gave a tearful acceptance speech about the importance of protecting family.
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The Academy said it had received his resignation and would push forward with disciplinary proceedings against him, the details of which are to be discussed at a board meeting on 18 April.
On Friday, Smith apologised again to his fellow nominees and winners for having “deprived” them of the opportunity to celebrate their achievements on the night.
“I have directly responded to the Academy’s disciplinary hearing notice, and I will fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct,” he said in a statement.
“My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful, and inexcusable.
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“The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home. I betrayed the trust of the Academy.
“I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken.
“I want to put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film.
“So, I am resigning from membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and will accept any further consequences the Board deems appropriate.”
He added: “Change takes time and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason.”
Will Smith accepts the award for Best Actor at this year’s Oscars.
ROBYN BECK via Getty Images
A subsequent statement from Academy president David Rubin said: “We have received and accepted Mr Will Smith’s immediate resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“We will continue to move forward with our disciplinary proceedings against Mr Smith for violations of the Academy’s Standards of Conduct, in advance of our next scheduled board meeting on April 18.”
At the meeting, Academy board members will discuss what disciplinary measures will be taken.
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Prior to his resignation, Hollywood trade outlet Variety reported that Smith met leaders of the Academy on Tuesday to discuss his outburst and apologised to Rubin and chief executive Dawn Hudson.
Showrunner Will Packer also told Good Morning America that the actor had called him the morning after the ceremony to apologise for the incident.
Packer also said he initially thought the incident was something Rock and Smith had planned together.
He said: “I thought this was part of something that Chris and Will were doing on their own, I thought it was a bit… like everybody else, I knew we hadn’t practised it.
“I wasn’t concerned at all (as Smith was walking on the stage). I figured OK, he’s going to say something or come at him, something funny is going to happen because that’s the nature of Chris and that’s the nature of Will, so let’s see what happens.
“Once I saw Will yelling at the stage with such vitriol my heart dropped and I just remember thinking ‘Oh no, not like this’.”
He also revealed that following the incident the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) had been “prepared” to arrest Smith, telling Rock he had been the victim of “battery”.
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The comedian had been “very dismissive” of the options given to him by LAPD officers and had “not wanted to make a bad situation worse,” Packer told the US show.
He said: “Shayla (Cowan, co-producer) told me that they were about to physically remove Will Smith and I had not been a part of those conversations.
“So I immediately went to the Academy leadership that was on site and I said, ‘Chris Rock doesn’t want that’.
“I said, ‘Rock has made it clear that he does not want to make a bad situation worse’. That was Chris’s energy. His tone was not retaliatory. His tone was not angry.
“So, I was advocating what Rock wanted at that time, which was not to physically remove Will Smith at that time. Because, as it had now been explained to me, that was the only option at that point.
“It has been explained to me that there was a conversation that I was not a part of, to ask him to voluntarily leave.”
Smith publicly apologised to Rock online after the incident, saying “violence in all its forms is poisonous and destructive”, and Pinkett Smith called for a “season of healing”.
“I was sickened by the standing ovation,” the “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” actor told CBS’s Gayle King. “I felt like Hollywood is just spineless en masse.”
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Just minutes after the incident at Sunday night’s ceremony, guests at the ceremony got to their feet when Will Smith won Best Actor for “King Richard.” In his acceptance speech, he apologized to the academy and fellow nominees for his behavior, rationalizing that “love will make you do crazy things.” He joked that he must “look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams,” whom he portrayed in “King Richard.” (Smith apologized to Rock on Monday.)
On Monday, King pointed out that anyone else besides Smith would’ve probably been escorted out after the assault or even arrested. Carrey said Smith “should have been,” but that Rock — who declined to press charges — simply didn’t want the hassle.
“I’d have announced this morning that I was suing Will for $200 million,” Carrey said. “That video is gonna be there forever. It’s gonna be ubiquitous. You know, that insult is gonna last a very long time.”
“You do not have the right to … smack somebody in the face because they said words,” Carrey continued, adding that it was “a selfish moment that cast a pall over the whole thing.”
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At the ceremony on Sunday, Will Smith walked onstage and hit Rock in the face after the comedian made the joke about his wife, who has opened up about her struggles with alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss. Smith shouted at Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth.”
Carrey isn’t the only comedian who has spoken out about the incident. Kathy Griffin and Patton Oswalt suggested that Smith’s actions could create open season on comics simply for telling jokes the audience doesn’t like.
Check out Carrey’s comments at the 3:10 mark:
Responses to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars have been divided — but Jenna Wortham (@jennydeluxe) says most people don’t have the full story of the incident.
“It’s something of a magnitude that I don’t think can be worked out on a public stage,” she says. pic.twitter.com/5qXIq30Y1F
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