Actor Will Smith has received a 10 year ban from the academy board from all of its events including the Oscars.
The Oscar’s verdict is coming two weeks after that eventful Oscar’s night when Smith took to stage to slap Chris Rock after the comedian made a bad joke about his wife Jada Pickett Smith’s hair loss condition known as alopecia, while he was about to make a presentation.
Though that night ended well for Smith as he received his first ever Oscar for his titular role in King Richard, the sweet taste of snapping the highly coveted award soon turned sour as the actor soon began to face the repercussions of what many have adjudged to have been an assault on Rock. And Yes many also believe that Rock’s joke was a bad one but not enough to excuse Smith’s out-of-character response.
Netflix as well as a couple of other studio pulled the plug on projects involving Smith and now the Oscar’s board has decided on axing the Bad Boys actor for a full decade.
Will Smith had prior to this ban resigned from the Academy but this didn’t result in any leniency from the guys at the board.
The Academy board in their statement as obtained by Variety said that they hoped the verdict would serve to pacify Smith’s victim
“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,” the board said
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences board also apologized for not responding to the situation earlier on and hopes that Smith’s huge penalty makes up for their oversight.
“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 Board also lauded Rock for his professionalism with handling the situation which was so well done that some viewers thought the slap was part of the act for his presentation.
“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.”
Read Also: Full List of Winners at the 94th Academy Awards
To the board’s verdict Will Smith has responded saying; “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision.”
There have been calls to strip Smith of his Oscar statute but the Oscars has said it has no legal grounds to do this citing that convicted actors like Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski still posses their respective Oscar awards.
On a brighter note, neither does the ban nor Smith’s resignation prevent him from receiving Oscar nods or even winning another one of their golden statutes.
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