Oscars 2022: Will Smith Banned By the Academy For 10 Years
A sanction has come down from The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences regarding Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock during this year’s Oscar ceremony.
“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,” Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement on Friday.
The ruling came down after a Board of Governors meeting was held earlier in the day in Los Angeles.
Initially scheduled for Apr. 18, the issue was expedited after Smith announced his resignation from the Academy last week.
The letter added: “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,” the letter went on to state. “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.”
In a previous statement, the Board of Governors wanted the matter to be “handled in a timely fashion.” But Smith’s resignation meant that while he is no longer a part of the Academy’s voting body, it did not prevent him from being nominated in the future, a source with knowledge shared with CNN.
Smith released the following statement to PEOPLE, "I accept and respect the Academy's decision."
Throughout this whole ordeal, Chris Rock has not spoken in depth publicly about the incident.
The only record of him speaking on the matter was when he appeared at a comedy show in Boston as part of his Ego Death tour and said, “I don't have a bunch of s**t about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I had like a whole show I wrote before this weekend. And I'm still kind of processing what happened, so at some point I'll talk about that s**t. And it'll be serious and it'll be funny, but right now I'm going to tell some jokes.”
Smith publicly apologized to Rock the day after the incident via social media.
RELATED: Will Smith Issues Public Apology To Chris Rock Over Oscars Altercation
He would then reach out the next morning to the show’s producer, Will Packer, who apologized and expressed his embarrassment, Packer would tell the team of Good Morning America.
