Hollywood\u2019s film academy on Friday banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars for 10 years after the best actor winner slapped presenter Chris Rock on stage at the Academy Awards ceremony on March 27.<\/p>\n
The board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences took the action at a meeting on Friday, a week after Smith had resigned from the group.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 94th Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year,\u201d academy President David Rubin and Chief Executive Dawn Hudson said in a statement. However, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement, Smith said, \u201cI accept and respect the Academy\u2019s decision.\u201d The actor has issued statements apologizing to Rock, the Oscars producers, nominees, and viewers.<\/p>\n
In addition to the Oscars, the film world\u2019s most prestigious awards, the board banned Smith from all other academy events and programs, in person or virtually, for 10 years.<\/p>\n
At the March 27 televised ceremony, Smith strode up to the stage after comedian Rock made a joke about the appearance of the actor\u2019s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, then smacked Rock across the face.<\/p>\n
Less than an hour later, Smith gave a tearful speech on stage as he accepted the best actor award for his role in \u201cKing Richard,\u201d portraying the father of tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams.<\/p>\n
After the ceremony, he was seen dancing at Vanity Fair\u2019s annual post-Oscars party.<\/p>\n
Rock\u2019s joke about Pinkett Smith made a reference to the 1997 film \u201cG.I. Jane\u201d in which actress Demi Moore shaved her head. It was unclear whether Rock was aware that she has a condition that causes hair loss.<\/p>\n
The academy came under criticism for allowing Smith to stay in his seat at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood after the outburst and let him take the stage to accept his award.<\/p>\n
In the Friday statement, the academy\u2019s leaders said they did not adequately address the situation during the telecast.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor this, we are sorry,\u201d they said. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
They also expressed \u201cdeep gratitude to Mr. Rock for maintaining his composure under extraordinary circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also want to thank our hosts, nominees, presenters, and winners for their poise and grace during our telecast, We also hope this can begin a time of healing and restoration for all involved and impacted,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hollywood\u2019s film academy on Friday banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars for 10 years after the best actor winner slapped presenter Chris Rock on stage at the Academy Awards ceremony on March 27. The board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences took the action at a meeting on Friday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":17326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[238],"tags":[3917,3916,3915],"class_list":["post-17289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign","tag-hollywoods-film-academy","tag-oscars","tag-will-smith"],"yoast_head":"\n