Will Smith is set to learn his fate tomorrow as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences holds a special meeting to decide what is to be done about the King Richard star’s slap on Chris Rock. You know the one, this one:
In case you have just returned from the moon, or – perhaps sensibly – have been avoiding the news, Smith invaded the stage at the Academy Awards on Sunday night and slapped host Chris Rock after he made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
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Since then, there have been millions of column inches and minutes of television dedicated to everything from whether violence is ever justified to the nature of comedy and what is and isn’t off limits.
For Smith, at least, making jokes about his wife’s hair – she suffers with alopecia – seems to be off limits, even at one of the biggest events of the entertainment calendar.
Anyway, amidst speculation that Will Smith could be banned from the Academy and even have his Oscar taken from him, they are set to meet to decide exactly what is to be done afterwards.
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They issued a statement yesterday condemning his actions and promising a ‘formal review’.
Fellow movie star Whoopi Goldberg, who sits on the board of governors for the Academy, has promised that he will be punished.
She said that ‘big consequences because nobody is OK with what happened’ but reckons it’s unlikely that the award will be taken away.
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Goldberg also said that the decision not to remove Smith from the ceremony after the incident was taken by producer Will Packer.
She explained that he decided against it ‘because that would have been another 15-, 20 minute-explanation about why we're taking the Black man out five seconds before they're about to decide whether he's won an Oscar or not'.
The Sister Act star added: “I believe [producer] Will Packer made the right decision, he said let's get to the rest of this so we can deal with it wholeheartedly.
“This is not the first time craziness has happened on stage, but this is the first time we've seen anybody assault anybody on stage.”
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She's right too.
It's not even the first time someone has tried to lamp someone at the Oscars.
The 53-year-old has already issued an apology to the Academy during his acceptance speech, and has since apologised to Rock publicly online, stating that his behaviour was ‘unacceptable and inexcusable’ and that he was ‘embarrassed’ by the whole affair.
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Those who have previously been suspended by the Academy include Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein, who were kicked out for sexual misconduct.
Whilst Weinstein was suspended and has subsequently been jailed for his crimes, his Oscars were never rescinded or taken from him.
Topics: US News, Will Smith, Celebrity, TV and Film, Oscars
Tom Wood