Within the span of two weeks, Will Smith has gone from finally winning his first Oscar to getting banned from the awards show for a decade.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Friday that Smith won't be allowed to attend any Academy events, including the Oscars, for 10 years. The move comes in response to Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars over a joke about his wife.
Days after the Oscars incident, the Academy opened a review into Smith, warning it could take disciplinary action against him. One option would be to expel him from the Academy, but Smith got ahead of the process by voluntarily stepping down, saying he would "accept any further consequences the board deems appropriate." This meant he would no longer be able to vote on the Oscars, but it wouldn't prevent him from attending the show or being nominated.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On Friday, the Academy's Board of Governors met to discuss Smith's fate and decided his exit from the organization was not enough.
"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," Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said. "We also hope this can begin a time of healing and restoration for all involved and impacted."
As the winner of Best Actor, Smith would ordinarily be invited back to next year's Oscars to present an award. He also has a film scheduled for release this year, Emancipation, that was expected to be a potential awards contender in 2023.
The Academy has faced criticism for not removing Smith during the event, and in the Friday statement, Rubin and Hudson acknowledged they "did not adequately address the situation in the room," and "for this, we are sorry."
-
Home Depots are the new epicenters of ICE raidsIn the Spotlight The chain has not provided many comments on the ongoing raids
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
The pros and cons of banning cellphones in classroomsPros and cons The devices could be major distractions
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
