Academy bans Will Smith for 10 years
Friday, April 8, 2022 at 6:51PM by Nathaniel R
Two weeks too late the Academy has essentially asked Will Smith to leave the building. The only appropriate time to do that would have been immediately post-slap, if you ask us. But after letting him stay and deliver a tearful speech in which he apologized as well as blamed the devil, and giving him a standing ovation, they don't really have much of a moral high ground to do so now. But they had to say something...
The Academy has ruled for a 10 year ban from attending the Oscars or any Academy events (though he'll still be eligible for nominations). Here is their public statement:
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. 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.
Today, the Board of Governors convened a meeting to discuss how best to respond to Will Smith's actions at the Oscars, in addition to accepting his resignation. 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.
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.
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.
Will Smith, meanwhile, has been apologizing for two weeks, has accepted the Academy's ruling, and seems genuinely sorry. Hopefully the Academy will realize soon that the Will Smith incident was a fluke; the true saboteur of Hollywood's most important event was not an actor who lost his cool but an organization who lost their confidence and mission trying to court people who don't respect or care about the movies.
Let's put this in horror movie terms; the call is coming from inside the house!
Best Actor, Oscar Ceremonies, Oscar Trivia, Oscars (21), Will Smith
Reader Comments (18)
Meanwhile, dolts on Twitter are asking where similar bans are for Woody Allen (never shows up anyway, also never convicted of anything) and bizarrely Louis CK.
He gets to keep his Oscar though,I think he should have handed it back right then and there.
If the Academy wanted people to tune in to the Oscars they would guarantee Chris Rock and Will Smith sharing the stage at next year's ceremony. The world is pro wrestling (the subject of Smith's first nomination understood that) so get on board.
My fantasy booking is that Chris Rock comes out to present Best Actress, make an allusion to the slap and then Will Smith's music hits, he comes down to the ring (oops, I mean stage) they have a stand off that ends with Smith fully turning face, they hug it out but that year's host (or some real heat magnet like Ricky Gervais) comes out to mock the reconciliation, a brawl ensues that ends with Smith telling Rock to get the tables and they perform the Dudley Death Drop, then they give the Oscar to Michelle Yeoh.
If the Academy wanted people to tune in to the Oscars they would guarantee Chris Rock and Will Smith sharing the stage at next year's ceremony. The world is pro wrestling (the subject of Smith's first nomination understood that) so get on board.
My fantasy booking is that Chris Rock comes out to present Best Actress, make an allusion to the slap and then Will Smith's music hits, he comes down to the ring (oops, I mean stage) they have a stand off that ends with Smith fully turning face, they hug it out but that year's host (or some real heat magnet like Ricky Gervais) comes out to mock the reconciliation, a brawl ensues that ends with Smith telling Rock to get the tables and they perform the Dudley Death Drop, then they give the Oscar to Michelle Yeoh.
Will Smith didn't deserve to win the award.
Will Smith is a populist actor who makes mostly terrible and sometimes entertaining movies, but nothing has ever been great.
Are we surprised at his actions, especially considering his past? It seems in line with his previous behaviours.
Jada Pinkett Smith isn't a movie star. She's mostly known as "Will's wife".
As someone who doesn't like his movies very much, was I supposed to be aware of her alopecia? I didn't think so.
Do I think Will Smith should be banned from the Oscars? Absolutely not. But he should have never been in a position to be front and centre during the telecast in the first place.
The ideal punishment would've been to have him escorted out at the next commercial break and not be able to accept his Oscar onstage, or give his speech. However, I think it's appropriate if the Oscars want to ban him from future ceremonies, given his behavior at this one. He can't be trusted not to sabotage a future event, no matter how contrite he seems. I've found his public apologies to be sorely lacking anyway.
"unprepared for the unprecedented" When one essentially makes excuses in an apology they're not really apologizing.
"Do I think Will Smith should be banned from the Oscars? Absolutely not." If an ordinary person did something like this in, say, the Academy Museum, they'd be banned for life. If a student slapped a teacher, they'd be expelled so fast (for life) they wouldn't have time to get a refund for their textbooks at the bookstore. There's a guy who's been kicked out of the academy FOR LIFE for sharing his screeners. As someone who was hit a lot as a nelly little queer kid, only to have teachers and the other kids act like "well, he must have done something to deserve it", this whole thing has been a depressing reminder of that time in my life. But the "popular kids" get a lot of slack and bullies are often popular.
"Will Smith didn't deserve to win the award." True.
@JJsDiner. Go to your room.
Will Smith's biggest sin is forgetting that for white folks violence is acceptable only on a systemic or organizational level, not an interpersonal one. 🙃
But let me be quiet...
There have been countless problematic movie stars, past and present, who have done questionable things (didn't Brad Pitt assault his child?) and have not faced any consequences from the Academy, their peers, or the public, so I have a hard time getting behind the exaggerated condemnation of Will Smith. I'm no fan, and what he did was shocking to see, but this punishment feels very in the moment and I think a one year ban would have been more appropriate.
MJC-Fact!
Woody Allen only showed up to the Oscars once for a comedy bit. That was all.
He's never been there ever since and why would he? Plus, he is innocent.
Strongly agree with Troy H and David.
Next year, they should have Chris Rock come out surrounded by a security detail and then have him present the Best Actress award.
I'm on board with Troy H., David and Guy.
And not that stupid comment about him not being deserving of the award. He could have been a presenter and the joke could have still been said and the slap could have still happened.
But start that petition to take back Roman Polanski's Oscar. One that he won with all that personal history being well known. Everybody here hated Will Smith already. So all this bull is no surprise.
I see the Will Smith fans have no hesitancy in playing the Whatabout? card. Ugh. I don't know why it's so hard to grapple with the distinction between bad behavior in general and bad behavior on someone's property and/or at their event. Smith ruined the 22 Oscars. It would be absurd for the Academy to turn around and say, "well, because of systemic racism, we're just going to ignore that."
no Oscar should ever be recalled. That's self serving and delusional. I dont understand why people are always pushing for that about people they dont like. You literally cannot change the past. This isn't a comic book or a sci-fi movie or a big franchise where you can just retcon anything you dont like.
awards are part of history and history is facts, whether we like facts or not. Pretending history didn't happen is... well, what is the point of it exactly? Who does it serve?
this story and all the responses to it (including probably my own) have been exhausting.
We're in an era of extreme takes, Nathaniel. It seems like people either think a) he was more or less justified and should have faced no punishment at all, or b) should be stripped of his Oscar and never allowed to appear in a film again.
Jeeze.
I think this middle ground is about right. I might have taken it up one notch and formally expelled him, but giving up the Oscar, which is for acting, is absurd.
Mr. Smith should be banned permanently.
What he did is unacceptable.
However, he won - ok, he didn't deserve it, Andrew Garfield should have won for his brilliant performance in "tick, tick... BOOM!" -, and the Oscar shouldn't be taken away from him.
Will Smith is a popular personality who was given a prize for headlining seven films that each generated more than half a billion dollars in worldwide ticket sales and made the power players in corporate Hollywood much richer.
Had he publicly left the fresh prints of Bel Air across the face of his child there would be discussion about effective parental discipline techniques. In 2020 over half a million US children were subjected to physical abuse from an adult in their home.
Had he publicly left the fresh prints of Bel Air across the face of his wife there would be discussion about the pain of spousal abuse. In 2020 over 20 million US adults were subjected to physical abuse from a partner in their home.
Those beloved and lucrative movies Smith churned out were action thrillers where audiences cheered for violent resolutions. We are a violent society who condones mistakes and appreciates statements of contrition.
Mr. Smith gets a time out. We send thoughts and prayers to Mr. Rock.