The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ‘strongly considered’ kicking Will Smith out of the Oscars ceremony after he slapped Chris Rock onstage, and revealed on Monday that it has launched a formal review into the incident.
The film academy released the statement Monday afternoon, condemning the actor’s violent actions.
‘The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night’s show,’ a spokesperson for the organization said. ‘We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law.’
Academy leadership strongly considered removing Smith from last night’s broadcast following the incident, a source said.
‘There were immediate discussions but the Academy decision makers were seated in various spots in the Dolby Theater and couldn’t mobilize to make a decision before he won best actor,’ the source said.
Smith, 53, could face some type of disciplinary action or sanction, but it’s unlikely he would be made to hand over his Best Actor award for King Richard, Variety reported. The Academy states in its standards of conduct, it is ‘categorically opposed to any form of abuse.’
The fallout from Smith’s onstage assault continued Monday, as Hollywood and the public continued to wrestle with a moment that stunned the Dolby Theatre crowd and viewers at home, and may have passed all others in Academy Awards infamy.
Shortly after the incident, Will Packer, a producer for the 2022 Oscars, tweeted ‘Welp…I said it wouldn’t be boring #Oscars.’ Packer’s tweet came under fire when one Twitter user accused him of ‘making jokes about an assault.’
‘Black people have a defiant spirit of laughter when it comes to dealing with pain because there has been so much of it,’ Packer, who is black, responded in a tweet. ‘I don’t feel the need to elucidate that for you.’
He added, ‘But I also don’t mind being transparent and say that this was a very painful moment for me. On many levels.’
Sunday’s ceremony reached an estimated 15.36 million viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen company numbers released on Monday by ABC. That’s a 56 percent jump in viewers, but it is still the show’s second-lowest rating after 2021’s dismal viewership.
‘CODA’ won best picture in Sunday’s ceremony, but all of the winners and losers were overshadowed by Smith’s attack on Rock.
Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars Sunday after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. The Academy revealed on Monday that it has launched a formal review into the incident
Rock covers his jaw after being slapped in the face but went on to announce the winner for best documentary after a very awkward pause
The actor, 53, shocked viewers when he stormed on stage and smacked the comedian, 57, after he jokingly said Jada’s shaved haircut made her look like G.I. Jane. Within the hour, he accepted the Oscar for best actor
- The Academy on Monday launched a formal review into Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock at Sunday’s Oscars ceremony; he could face some type of disciplinary action or sanction
- Insiders told Vanity Fair that it is unlikely that Smith will be stripped of his Best Actor Oscar for his role in King Richard
- Smith faced fierce backlash on Monday morning, with Today show host Craig Melvin slamming him for aiding ‘this long-held perception that men of color can’t control their rage and anger’
- On The View, the co-hosts also slammed Smith for his ‘immature’ and ‘criminal’ behavior, but Whoopi Goldberg broke ranks to defend him, saying ‘sometimes you behave badly’
- Rock has declined to press charges against Smith for the slap. The Los Angeles Police Department said: ‘The individual involved has declined to file a police report. If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report’;
- Oscars directors scrambled to turn off the sound because broadcast was delayed in the US. But Smith’s attack and meltdown was seen in full by many international viewers;
- Smith was calmed down by Bradley Cooper after he assaulted Rock. Denzel Washington was also seen speaking to him. The actor later revealed Washington, who appeared tearful himself, had told him: ‘At your highest moment, be careful. That’s when the devil comes for you’;
- It marred a night where Jessica Chastain finally won her first Best Actress trophy and CODA made history as the first ever streaming film to earn Best Picture;
Today show host Craig Melvin slams Will Smith for Chris Rock slap – but Whoopi Goldberg DEFENDS him on The View, saying ‘sometimes you behave badly’
Will Smith’s attack on Chris Rock at the Oscars on Sunday night sparked fierce backlash, with many criticizing Hollywood’s hypocrisy for allowing him to stay in the theater.
On the Today show on Monday morning, host Craig Melvin slammed Smith for aiding ‘this long-held perception that men of color can’t control their rage and anger.’
‘It was really disappointing,’ Melvin said. ‘If you’re rearing a boy, especially in this country, you spend so much time talking to our kids about keeping your hands to yourself and this long health perception that man of color can’t control their rage and their anger and to see someone who’s been that beloved for decades – it was troubling on so many levels.’
Later, on The View, Whoopi Goldberg broke ranks with her co-hosts to defend the 53-year-old Oscar winner.
‘I think he overreacted…I think he had one of those moments where it was like G.D. it, just stop,’ Whoopi said. ‘I get it, not everybody acts the way we would like them to act under pressure. And he snapped.’
Whoopi also pointed out that the duo have been the butt of jokes over the years, including from Chris Rock himself at a previous awards show.
‘I think it was a lot of stuff probably built up,’ Whoopi said. ‘Sometimes you get to a point when you behave badly. I myself have behaved badly on occasion.’
Her co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro however called his shocking outburst ‘immature and childish.’
Navarro said Rock’s ‘lame’ G.I. Jane joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head was in ‘poor taste’,’ and went on to explain that Jada has alopecia and that’s why she shaved her head.
But Navarro added that while the joke in ‘poor taste,’ it and the slap were ‘not equivalent’ and that ‘hitting somebody is a crime, a crime of assault.’
‘She’s been very public about it, very vulnerable about it, but nothing, nada condones violence at this point. Nada.’
Smith stunned the Dolby Theatre crowd and viewers at home when he took the stage during Rock’s remarks after the comedian made a bald head joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has spoken about losing her hair due to the condition alopecia.
The joke struck a nerve and Smith strode on stage and slapped Rock across the face. Back in his seat, Smith twice shouted for Rock to ‘get my wife’s name out your (expletive) mouth.’ Within an hour, Smith won best actor. During his acceptance speech, Smith apologized to the academy.
After the show on Sunday night, the academy posted a statement on Twitter condemning violence, but did not name Smith.
Some academy members, like writer-producer Marshall Herskovitz, called for the academy to take disciplinary action against Smith.
‘He disgraced our entire community tonight,’ wrote Herskovitz on Twitter.
Whoopi Goldberg, a member of the Academy’s board of governors, said Monday on ‘The View’: ‘We’re not going to take that Oscar from him. There will be consequences, I’m sure.’
A sense of disbelief hung in the air at the Dolby Theatre after Smith’s assault, and it didn’t dissipate Monday.
Not only was it a hard-to-fathom break with decorum on live national television – an incident so dramatic, even movie-like, that many initially assumed it was a staged bit – it seemed wildly out of character for one of Hollywood’s most relentlessly upbeat stars.
On Monday, the organization held emergency talks over Zoom about possibly stripping Smith of his Best Actor gong for smacking Rock, as Hollywood’s hypocritical woke elite still scrambled to party with him through the night.
Oscar bosses were said to be split over whether to take the actor’s trophy for his role in ‘King Richard’ because the assault breaks a new code of conduct drawn up by The Academy in the wake of #MeToo movement and the appalling crimes of Harvey Weinstein.
Members, including Smith himself, have agreed to behave in a way that never violates ‘the integrity of the Academy by their actions’ or face suspension or expulsion. Critics are clear that the actor’s live TV attack meets that definition – but his supporters insist he ‘should be able to hold on to it’.
A source told The Sun: ‘Once the ceremony was over they called in key members to hold an emergency meeting about what action they should take.
‘There have been calls to have Will stripped of his Best Actor gong. They cannot be seen to be condoning violence in any way and there are some people in the Academy who believe they should remove the award from him to make a point. Others, however, believe he should be allowed to hold on to it’.
Rock, who has not been seen since the attack, has been offered a ‘package of after care’ including a counsellor if he needs one, the insider said. The comedian has told the Los Angeles Police Department that he does not want to press charges.
Will and Jada held hands throughout the ceremony after the shocking slap
Chris Rock ‘hasn’t spoken’ to Will Smith after THAT slap at the Oscars… as it’s claimed the comedian didn’t know Jada Pinkett Smith has alopecia
Chris Rock is yet to speak to Will Smith after being struck by the actor live onstage at the Oscars on Sunday night.
It had been claimed that the pair had sorted out their differences, but insiders now say that is not the case.
It has also been claimed that Rock was not aware that Jada Pinkett Smith suffers with alopecia, after he made a joke about her bald head looking like ‘G.I. Jane.’
TMZ report that Rock and Smith have yet to settle anything privately, and there has been no communication between the two men.
A close friend of Rock has informed that outlet the comedian went straight back to his dressing room after the incident and left the building, which was always his plan for the evening.
The insider added that Chris did not know Jada suffers with alopecia and that he ‘doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.’
Rock is said to have been left ‘shaken and bewildered’ by Smith’s smack, but dusted himself off to attend Madonna’s manager Guy Oseary’s famous Oscars After Party in LA.
According to Pagesix Rock appeared ‘unfazed’ at the party, though people were said to be rallied around him.
‘You wouldn’t really know anything had happened,’ an insider told the publication, adding: ‘He was talking about it, just saying it was crazy, but it didn’t seem to be bothering him at all.’
Adding to the backlash against Smith, Richard Williams – who the Oscar winner portrays in King Richard and the father of Serena and Venus Williams – said he condemns violence.
‘We don’t know all the details of what happened. But we don’t condone anyone hitting anyone else unless it’s in self-defense,’ Williams’ son Chavoita LeSane said.
But LA’s rich and famous still welcomed Smith like a hero as they partied with him on Sunday night. The star, 53, was hugged, high-fived and hallowed by guests at the Vanity Fair party in Beverley Hills even after his assault on the comedian just minutes before being handed his now-tainted Best Actor award. D
Despite being accused of shaming his profession and wrecking a historic moment when he became just the fifth black man to win an Oscar for male lead, he was mobbed by A-listers desperate to celebrate with him.
Smith posed for selfies with the usually woke LA crowd who cheered him as he rapped along to his biggest hits including Summertime and Getting’ Jiggy Wit It at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills this morning.
But the Hollywood glitterati, many of whom will have been at the ceremony last night, have publicly criticised people like JK Rowling, who is a staunch defender of women’s rights including how they should take primacy over those of transgender people, especially when it comes to safe spaces.
Critics have also pointed out The Academy banned Kevin Hart as host of the 2019 Academy Awards over historic unacceptable tweets – but has not punished Will Smith for punching someone. Chrissy Teigen was also cancelled because of social media posts.
Bernardine Evaristo, the Man Booker prize-winning writer, tweeted: ‘What a thing to wake up to. Only the fifth black man in nearly 100 years to win an Oscar for male lead, and the first in 16 years, resorts to violence instead of utilizing the power of words to slay Chris Rock. Then he claims God and love made him do it.’
At the Vanity Fair party Will Smith was supported by Jada and their children Willow, Jaden and Trey after tainting his first Oscar with the live TV punch – 20 years after his first nomination – and told the crowd: ‘It’s been a beautiful night – it’s all love’.
Just hours earlier he marched on to stage and cracked Chris Rock across the face before returning to his seat to scream: ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth’.
Just 40 minutes later he won Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the father who raised tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams. The incident was so outrageous the audience and millions of viewers across the world believed it to be a prank.
The comedian, who was presenting the award for best documentary, had made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. He said: ‘Jada, GI Jane 2, I can’t wait to see it’. Ms Smith has been grappling with hair loss since revealing her alopecia diagnosis in 2018.
‘It’s basically assault’, an Oscars insider told the New York Post about Smith’s attack, adding: ‘Everyone was just so shocked in the room, it was so uncomfortable. I think Will would not want to give his Oscar back, but who knows what will happen now.’
