Following his slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, Oscars banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for ten years.
The news was announced by the Motion Picture Academy on Friday.
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Following a meeting of the academy’s Board of Governors to deliberate a response to Smith’s behavior, the decision was made. It’s unclear if the ban will be extended to future nominations.
“The 94th Academy Awards were supposed to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who accomplished incredible work this past year,” the academy stated in a statement. “However, those moments were overshadowed by the inappropriate and harmful behavior we witnessed Mr. Smith demonstrate on stage.”
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Smith said, “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision.” During the week leading up to the conference, he resigned from the academy, calling his acts “shocking, hurtful, and inexcusable.”
Smith was allowed to stay and receive his best actor award for “King Richard” after the academy apologized for its handling of the matter.
“We did not adequately address the situation in the room during our telecast.” “We sorry for this,” the academy stated. “We had an opportunity to establish an example for our guests, viewers, and Academy family around the world, and we failed – unprepared for the unprecedented.”
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Smith was asked to leave the Oscars ceremony but refused, according to a statement released by the Academy in the days following the ceremony.
However, it’s unclear how or in what form the message was communicated to Smith, and multiple media sources have stated that he was never formally forced to leave the Dolby Theatre. “Officially, we don’t want you to go,” Oscars producer Will Packer informed Smith, according to the Los Angeles Times. “We want you to stay.”
The ban means Smith will not be presenting one of the major awards at next year’s Oscars, as is tradition for the best actor winner.
