The board of directors of the Academy of Oscars, meeting this Friday to examine the case of actor Will Smith, has made its decision.
Under disciplinary proceedings after the slap he slapped comedian Chris Rock in the middle of the ceremony on March 27, Will Smith is finally banned from any Oscar ceremony for ten years.
“Mr. Smith will not be permitted to attend any Academy event or program, in person or virtually,” whether or not it is the Oscars, and effective immediately, the Academy’s board of directors said in a statement. the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“I accept and I respect the decision of the Academy”, reacted Will Smith, for his part.
The actor had taken the lead in a sanction on 1er April by resigning on his own from the organization. He then admitted to having “betrayed the confidence of the Academy”. “I have deprived other candidates and winners of the chance to celebrate their extraordinary work,” the actor explained, noting also: “I will accept any consequences that the board of directors deems appropriate”.
The actor will therefore not be deprived of his Oscar for best actor for his performance in “The Williams Method”. A sanction which was claimed by some even though such a decision has never been taken in the history of the Academy. Neither Harvey Weinstein, convicted of rape and sexual assault, nor director Roman Polanski had been ordered to return their awards after being expelled from the Academy.
For the record, it was a joke by Chris Rock about the haircut of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, suffering from alopecia, a disease that causes hair loss, which had brought Will Smith out of his hinges. Rewarded a few minutes later, the actor then explained “love makes you do crazy things”, before presenting the next day a public apology to the Academy and to Chris Rock. The comedian, for his part, did not file a complaint.