Before Will Smith issued his apology yesterday evening (EST), there was already a lot of fuss and drama happening within the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. There were also a lot of high-level conversations about what should have happened within the actual Oscar ceremony following The Smack. The entire mood within the auditorium shifted irrevocably after the Smack, and I’m sure there were conversations in real time about what producers should do about Will and Chris Rock. For what it’s worth, it also felt like everyone (from Oscar attendees to producers) deferred to people like Denzel Washington, who took it upon himself to de-escalate the situation, check in on everyone involved, and most importantly, calm down Will. So what happens now? Well, AMPAS is reviewing and the leadership is talking:
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in a statement issued on Monday condemned the actions of best actor winner Will Smith after the “King Richard” star stormed the stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock in the face during Sunday’s Oscars ceremony.
“The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night’s show,” the statement 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.”
Earlier on Monday, CNN learned that Academy leadership “strongly considered” removing Smith from the Oscars telecast after the incident, according to a source close to the situation. “Academy leadership strongly considered removing Will Smith from last night’s broadcast following the incident. 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.
Following the ceremony, the Academy Awards tweeted a short statement about the on-stage incident that read: “The Academy does not condone violence of any form. Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”
At least a dozen members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars, met virtually on Monday morning to discuss a response to Smith slapping Rock, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting. The meeting was described as “heated” and “divided.” There was no agreement on further action, according to the sources. The dozen members who met on their own volition and are being described as influential and recognizable members of the Academy, including actors and directors. The group does not have any disciplinary power, but they are considered high profile enough that the Board of Governor’s for the Academy could be influenced in any response they may have.
Some people on the call said the Academy mishandled the incident with its initial tweet. Others feel that the situation was handled properly and no further steps should be taken, according to the sources who spoke to CNN. It’s unclear if the Academy leadership is planning on meeting to discuss the unprecedented situation. CNN has contacted the Academy for further comment. The Academy’s Board of Governors has the power to discipline members who violate their code of conduct through a vote for suspension or expulsion from the Academy.
Yeah, this is where y’all can leave me. If Oscar producers couldn’t show leadership in the moment to remove Will from the ceremony, then they missed their chance and this post-Oscars show of force makes them look overly punitive. In my opinion! I think what Will Smith did was wrong, even if I understand why he did it and why his emotions were running so high at that moment. There’s absolutely no reason to, what? Suspend Will from attending future Oscar ceremonies? Take away his Oscar? Bullsh-t. Roman Polanski never had his Oscar taken away. Harvey Weinstein hasn’t had his Oscars taken away.
Variety also had a detailed accounting of what was going on behind-the-scenes with the Oscar director and producers during the incident. They claim that Chris Rock’s “GI Jane” joke was improvised and no one had any idea he would say that. I don’t believe that, because they already had a camera on Will and Jada for their reaction to the “joke.” Producers also abdicated their responsibility to do something during the Oscars mostly because Denzel Washington was on it. I’m being completely serious – producers saw that Denzel, Tyler Perry and Bradley Cooper were all working on calming down Will and they were like “okay, so that’s handled.”
Photos courtesy of Instar, Avalon Red and Backgrid.
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- – Los Angeles, USA -20220327-The 94th Academy Awards-Arrivals -PICTURED: Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith -PHOTO by: Abby Grant/Cover Images/INSTARimages.com -Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith_4749.jpg This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded
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- Tyler Perry, and Oscar® nominees Will Smith and Denzel Washington during the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022.,Image: 673515395, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Avalon Licensing Ltd. do not claim any Copyright of the attached image WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Oscar® nominee Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith during the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022.,Image: 673515422, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Avalon Licensing Ltd. do not claim any Copyright of the attached image WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith during the live ABC telecast of the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022.,Image: 673515557, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Avalon Licensing Ltd. do not claim any Copyright of the attached image WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Oscar® nominee Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith arrives on the red carpet of the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at the Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022.,Image: 673541241, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Avalon Licensing Ltd. do not claim any Copyright of the attached image WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Will Smith attends the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones celebrating the 94th annual Academy Awards at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 27, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California,Image: 673579164, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Will Smith, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
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- Will Smith attends the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones celebrating the 94th annual Academy Awards at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 27, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California,Image: 673579181, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Will Smith, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
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- Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, Will Smith, Jaden Smith and Trey Smith attends the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones celebrating the 94th annual Academy Awards at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 27, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California,Image: 673579577, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, Will Smith, Jaden Smith and Tr, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
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- Chris Rock backstage at the live ABC telecast of the 94th Oscars® at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, on Sunday, March 27, 2022.,Image: 673582761, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Avalon Licensing Ltd. do not claim any Copyright of the attached image WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
Remind me what happened when Adrien Brody assaulted Halle Berry with a nonconsensual kiss on the Oscars stage? Oh right… nothing.
@Vera you are so right re. Adrian Brody kissing Halle Berry. I do think there should be some consequences for Will Smith. To take his Oscar away would be punitive to an absurd degree. However, I don’t think he should be invited back next year.
The punishment should be him not presenting Best Actress next year as would be tradition. That’s it. And I would also guess that Chris Rock has used his 9 lives for the Oscars.
Whoopi Goldberg said they wouldn’t take his Oscar away (she is on the board of governors for the academy). I hope they can smooth things over and apologize all around. The academy needs to do some soul searching about how they treat Black women in general and especially this incident.
Yes, Vera! I’m still not sure how I feel about what Will did (I know, physical violence is wrong – but a joke about a medical condition that has such obvious physical manifestations that can be really challenging is really abhorrent/punching down in such a mean way that I’m not as upset as I know I should be) but I am glad this is bringing renewed focus to Brody’s physical assault and how nobody ever investigated him or threatened to punish him.
Yep!
(And I’m still waiting for the Academy’s apology to Jada, still waiting for Chris’s apology to Jada)
Great points, Emma! Jada keeps being a victim in all of this over and over again.
Who wrote that joke? Was it on the teleprompter? How did the camera pan on Will & Jada within a nanosecond of that joke? Seems the academy likely had a big something to do w violence of speech
The girls sure had a good time frisking those guys though.
Can you imagine working that hard for the achievement of a lifetime only to blow it and get it taken away…
Don’t worry, he can just sexually assault 20+ women and they’ll give it back to him along with a standing ovation.
Polanski raped an underage girl and was convicted and left the US to avoid jail. This happened in the 70s. He won the Oscar for the Pianist decades later. So no we aren’t having this discussion about removing anything for a slap.
Thank you was just going to say this.
This is all perfomative. They will not dare take away the Oscar for only the 5th black leading actor after all those other dispicable white men still have theirs. They even flew Romans Oscar because he wouldnt attend.
Noki I agree, but I have heard POCs say: Will may get a wake up call that he isn’t untouchable. That he is a black man and will learn he is not protected as the white men are.
I hope that is not the case. I hope that this is performative.
Lessons have been learned, discussions have taken place and people have been educated and it’s now time to move one. We have a Chief Justice’s wife who needs to face the consequences of her actions.
There are a long list of problematic people who should get things “taken away”. Start there first.
The same academy that still continued to honor a convicted child rapist and an additional alleged child rapist? And see above comment about Adrian Brody assaulting Halle Berry when he won. F the academy.
The list of men/people who should have their awards taken away is long. I won’t add it because that sh* is long, but stop with the hypocrisy.
I do not agree with wills’ actions but they shouldn’t take his Oscar away. Adrien Brody… Weinstein …. Yep
And Woody Allen.
This is like the ‘bullying’ investigation into Meghan’s time as a working royal. Performative and incredibly wrong being directed at the Black man instead of the long, long line of white men who should have their Oscars stripped from them. Bad look, Academy.
It is certainly very similar in approach, except in Meghan’s case she didn’t even do what they are accusing her of.
Meghan didn’t slap anyone.
Of course Meghan didn’t slap anyone, and my analogy isn’t exactly 1 to 1 (I should have pointed that out in the original post). Meghan didn’t bully anyone, in any way shape or form and is wholly innocent of bullying anyone on KP’s staff.
But beside the innocence on Meghan’s part or fact that Will slapped someone in front of millions of people, both institutions ignored long time actions by white people yet one day decided to investigate a Black person.
Anyone remember the results of the formal reviews for Woody Allen and Roman Polanksi? Or Mel Gibson?
Oh wait. There weren’t any.
Allen’s not and never has been a member (by his own choice) and they did expel Polanski under the new Code of Conduct they brought in after the Weinstein horror show went public. However they didn’t revoke the awards themselves, so I don’t know where that idea came from. Not a great look.
I think the logical thing would be to announce that as a reprimand he is not welcome to attend the next few ceremonies. Done. He disrupted the ceremony, so I feel like that would be fair. (Although given how awful the ceremonies have become, I’m not sure if that’s a punishment or a favour to him!)
I think this is where i stand too. He had already won the Oscar, judged by his peers- even if it hadnt been announced yet. That was for his acting. The Oscar is his and should stay his. Oscars are not given out for morality- they aren’t Sunday School prizes. The consequences of the assault are for the law to handle, i guess in conjunction with CR. The Academy needed to act in their realm of responsibility as function hosts as the event occurred. They didn’t then, when should and could have. The only thing left for them to really do is decide if they are going to invite him next year, which they dont need to do right now anyway. Every other consequence is going to be dealt out in the court of public opinion. They are all public people by choice. I think that is going to be worse than anything the Academy can do.
a joke considering who’ve they’ve given oscars to and haven’t bothered to try and take them back. everyone is doing way too much imo.
There’s no way they’ll take his Oscar away. Not happening.
I think maybe what we’ll see is review of procedures should something like this happen again..maybe adding extra security to the stage if there isn’t any there presently.
Didn’t Polanski even get an Oscar while exiled? Yeah they missed their window. Based on what I’m seeing in Twitter, if they do this they’re just gonna get more Oscars So White backlash for picking and choosing when (WHO) to push back on unacceptable behavior.
Yeah, the Academy needs to review their entire history not just Will. The Academy is as much to blame as Chris Rock and Will Smith for this debacle.
This. And while they are reviewing things, they need to review the mean humor that has taken hold. Accusing the Gyllynhaals (sp?) of incest? Cracking a joke about medically induced baldness? Why is that nasty kind of “humor” allowed?
The Oscars (and all awards shows) should celebrate accomplishments. Humor is great but it shouldn’t be used as a weapon at the awards show. If a comedian is known for mean humor, don’t invite them.
And for pity’s sake, the award shows aren’t comedy specials: get rid of the hosts doing skits.
I like biting/blue humor but there is a time and place for it and awards shows are the place.
Exactly.
I think that host’s roasting stars has been going on for awhile and now is a given. It’s a way for people watching to maybe relate to very rich movie stars by making jokes about them? I’ve actually got a problem with the endless awarding of trophies to entertainers now. There used to be the Oscars, Emmy’s, Grammys and Tony’s. Now award season goes on forever and I think there’s just a general weariness/disinterest with the whole deal. Does anyone under 40 watch the Oscars? I dipped in and out of Sunday’s show and just happened to see the Smith/Rock debacle and felt really bad for every winner after that. Just such a bad vibe.
GTFOH.
Nothing Will Smith did is a fraction as bad as what Weinstein, Polanski and Woody Allen have done, among many others. Even discussing the removal of the Oscar is disturbing. And it’s not a good behaviour trophy. Putting some kind of good morals clause on Will Smith when Polanski gets his decades away in Europe running from a underage rape conviction really shows the racism.
I don’t agree with how he handled the joke about Jada, but the academy is just looking to cover their ass for letting this play out live without doing anything at the time.
Yes, your last sentence is how I feel and was trying to say something similar in my comment below but couldn’t word it correctly so just didn’t include that sentiment in my comment, lol. but this is about the Academy trying to CYA when the time to take action was Sunday night.
Why oh why was there no stage security?? Why was Will allowed to jump on stage? He should not have even had the opportunity to hit Chris because someone should have stopped him. I guarantee someone would have stopped Joe Blow from rushing the stage. Wouldn’t Chris have a case against the academy for not providing adequate security?
I honestly am appalled that Will Smith, or anyone else for that matter, can/could simply walk onto that stage and freely attack someone in that manner. I think this incident will result in some strict security measures being taken to protect presenters and/or award recipients from here forward. Something worse could have happened to Chris Rock!!!
And I’m equally appalled that there’s even discussion about Will Smith Oscar being taken away from him. Like for what reason exactly would the Academy do that? For committing a misdemeanor? Many white men including Ben Affleck brother have committed worse crimes and they kept theirs, no? C’mon now!
If it had been some random person from the audience there would have been security jumping on stage. Because a movie star did it, they weren’t prepared and then probably didn’t want to piss him off more.
If they take away his Oscar when they made no such effort for a KNOWN child predator… I’m blowing the racism whistle. If WS was white they wouldn’t even be publicising they were talking about any kind of response; they’d have released some statement that it was looked into and being dealt with, and we’d never hear again about any kind of punishment because there wouldn’t be one, because white men always have a seat at the Oscar table. It’s women and men of colour who have to prove day after day that they “belong” and deserve the tiny scraps the elder white statesmen toss them.
Just end the Oscars and mail people their statues. Why do we still need this spectacle?
Yeah. Will Smith seemed so beloved by everyone, even by Some People but all this time Some People were just waiting for an opportunity like this to cut him down. He was that one black man who seemed to have everything, I guess Some People thought that wasn’t fair to them. I don’t support The Smack at all but the response is so overblown compared to the silence, enabling and victim blaming that follows other revelations of “bad” behaviour from men in Hollywood.
|| They claim that Chris Rock’s “GI Jane” joke was improvised and no one had any idea he would say that. I don’t believe that, because they already had a camera on Will and Jada for their reaction to the “joke.” ||
Actually, they moved the camera on Will and Jada when Chris said Javier was praying that Will Smith would win, to get his reaction to the joke. And since he immediately mentioned Jada afterward, the cameras just stayed on them.
Chris Rock is trash and should not be invited to host anything. Will Smith had a tantrum and ruined the night for everyone. Jada now has to deal with the online fallout of the actions of two men who acted badly. And I’m now in the position of feeling sorry for a woman who groomed a child. I’ll be happy when this whole story blows over.
Groomed a child? 23 year olds are children now? Please stop.
Jada did not commit a crime. There are actual child predators who deserve your condemnation.
I wondered if the script had the GI Jane joke, and Will complained about it at rehearsals. But Rock put it in anyhow.
They aren’t going to take away his Oscar but its absurd (like I said in the other thread) that its even being remotely discussed.
My guess is that a deal will be struck where Will Smith isn’t invited back next year to give the award for Best Actress, which is usually what happens. But no expulsion, no suspension, he obviously keeps his Oscar, etc.
Can’t believe it ,seriously, with all the long list of bullies, abusers, rapists, tax dodgers, etc…you are considering taking away an Oscar from a man because he stood up for his wife??!!?
He did wrong, OK, but c’mon!!!
Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Casey Affleck, and on and on and on. If the Academy is serious, they have a whole list of men they need to investigate before Will. But I see one main difference between him and these other actors and that explains this reaction very clearly. What a joke.
Let’s be honest they don’t care about anything but ratings and their bag. What happened saddened me for everyone involved and he shouldn’t have physically touched Rock. But no way in hell should they take his Oscar when pedos and rapists are running free.
Roasting people at the Oscars is a long-standing tradition since Bob Hope days, continued by Ellen, Ricky, Amy, and most others. Will was a major jerk. Don’t even invite him next year. & don’t let him present, ever.
Will is a creep. Read his memoir/autobiography if you doubt that.
Yes, I’m sure he will be upset about that. Not going to the party given by a racist, sexist, misogynist organization. Boo hoo. And maybe some traditions need to die, it’s one thing to crack jokes but lets leave people’s appearances out of it.
Roasting at the Oscars is okay, the problem has always been (well since I’ve been watching it, so for 30 years? 25 years?) that when the host or presenter can’t think of a funny joke or doesnt have material and resorts to something like this comment about Jada’s appearance.
There is something funny about the roasting at the Oscars, bc these people are there, usually with massive egos, enormous sense of self-importance, wearing expensive clothes and jewels while the commoners just watch from afar (or at home.) So having the host kind of prick a hole in those ego-filled balloons can be funny.
Key word there is “can” be funny. the joke has to be funny, or at least witty/smart. This joke – everything else aside, whether Rock knew about the alopecia or not – was not funny, and it was based on her appearance. If you can’t be funny in a 90 second clip where you’re presenting an award without resorting to commenting on a woman’s physical appearance, then maybe you’re just not that funny.
I don’t know if I’m making sense lol, but I’ve been turning this over in my head since it happened and that’s one of my big things. There’s roasting someone and then there’s just being an ass, and it seems like Chris Rock was the latter.
I know Twitter ran with the idea that they were debating taking back his Oscar but absolutely nothing in that statement indicates to me that they are even considering that. Tightening security is definitely an issue that needs to be reviewed. As for Smith, they can revoke his membership in the Academy and/or bar him from Academy events for a while. Most actors are not Academy members although Smith has been one since at least 2002.
I know everyone is talking about how many actors need to get their Oscars taken away, and it’s true. Even if some of the victims have not pressed charges. But at least change has got to start from somewhere and this is a step in the right direction.
Are you serious? When Harvey Weinstein is sitting in jail right now, convicted but still holding on to his Oscars, this is “the step in the right direction”? What’s stopping them from stripping his awards? Or Mel Gibson?
okay they can start with the rapist sitting in jail 😊 or the other rapist holed up in france.
Are you actually serious? So your solution is to start with Will Smith, the guy who got caught up in his emotions and the moment and defended his wife? Not to start with Mel Gibson, or Harvey Weinstein, or Kevin Spacey?
Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, and how about how they had to hold John Wanye down from attacking an Indian woman at the academy awards? We can also add, Brad Pitt who was abusive and stood in front of the academy and continued to put down his wife? Once again, I don’t condone what happened, but are they really ready to make an example out of Will Smith?
I’m not sure what people find so hard to understand the difference between what happened on Sunday and Woody Allen and Roman Polanksi, Mel Gibson, Weinstein ….. their actions didn’t take place at the Oscars on live TV.
If everything had went down between Will and Chris outside of the Oscars there would be no review. I have not seen anything about that academy taking Will Oscar away. There are people that are suggesting that it should happen, there are people speculating that it could happen, but nothing from the Academy saying that’s a option.
More likely Will might be suspended from coming for a year or two. Personally I think Chris should not be allowed to host or present an award at Oscars again.
Yes, this. It happened on live TV. And the Academy might be putting Will Smith in front on their statement, but there will certainly be an investigation into what the show’s director and crew should have done.
As for “punishment,” I think both Will Smith and Chris Rock should be fined a big chunk of money that would go to one of the Academy’s charities.
THANK YOU! This was a WORK FUNCTION!!! They are lucky this happened on live TV, otherwise he probably would have been arrested on the spot.
I cannot fathom ANY defense of this in a professional setting. Just imagine this was your two coworkers- how would your company react to an altercation like this on company time? Broadcasted for all to see?
This is an embarrassment for the industry, no matter how justified anyone thinks he is.
I think it’s fair enough to say, Will smith isn’t going to be invited back to present next year. I think they also need to say they won’t be inviting Chris rock too. Fair enough to suspend his membership of the academy for a period, mainly because this happened at an academy event itself.
But taking away the Oscar? No. Not unless they take away all the others from Polanski, Weinstein who are convicted criminals.
There is no excuse for violence, but can anyone tell me if Chris Rock has apologized to Jada about making fun of her looks due to a disease? I think he needs to be the bigger man while Will is held to account.
The Academy is not going to take away Will’s Oscar.
I think the purpose of the “formal review” is twofold: 1) it’s a delayed attempt to look like they are taking the live, televised physical assault somewhat seriously. They are probably getting pressure from SAG (the actor’s union).
And 2) at the end of the investigation, announce they’ve come up with a set of protocol, procedure, rules and consequences for future shows, in case anything like this happens again. I think this investigation is mostly about how to avoid any future legal problems that broadcasting a live, physical assault could bring.
Will Smith should keep the Oscar; his performance was great and he earned it. They won’t take it from him.
If you read the Variety behind the scenes article, they almost seemed excited that Will got up — that they were going to get an impromptu “moment” out of the night. Well, they got a moment all right. It was ugly, it sucked the air out of the night, and took the shine off the winners that came afterward. No one is talking about CODA, that’s for sure.
The fact that no one from the Academy could take the mic for a minute and say something right then and there contributed to the chaos. The producer, who was able to meet with Smith’s publicist and then get out on the floor and talk to Will, should have gone on stage and said something. I don’t know what, but maybe acknowledge right then that it wasn’t scripted, it wasn’t condoned, and it would be dealt with. It might have smoothed things over for the Dolby audience and those at home. Amy Schumer’s joke was funny but it wasn’t enough.
Just because comedians have “roasted” people way beyond the most basic decency in past doesn’t make it ok for that to continue in the present. Chronic medical condition is a disability. I can say honestly if someone cruelly roasted my son in front of tens of millions of people about his physical disability I would most definitely snap and they would find out a whole lot harder than Rock did. Not like comedy is going to die if we take going after someone’s disability off the list. And we can also take off the list those people who want to decide how legitimate someone’s disability is for them. The unvarnished ableism going on around this conversation on Twitter is revolting.
Why did they miss their window? Can’t the Academy start taking responsibility for their actions now? Why can’t they take away the Oscars awarded in the past?
Will told us who he is when he wrote in his book that he believed if he killed his father he would get away with it based on his award winning acting skills. The fact that he could not contain himself and resorted to physical violence in front of a global audience is very troubling.
You’re putting words in my mouth. They should all have their Oscars taken including will. But investigations and accusations take a long time to prove and you have to distinguish between heresay and gossip, which is something that runs rampant for celebrities I assume. No one has done any criminal activities right on the stage and that’s what got people talking and that’s what the awards are taking accountability for right now. Yes they need accountability for letting the rapists and sexual predators slide too, they can do all of it.
They’re not going to take away his Oscar. The difference between Will and all the people being mentioned who should (but haven’t) been stripped of their Oscars is that this isn’t about his overall bad behavior (by most accounts Will is nice and professional), this was a fight that happened *at work*, essentially. It would be like if someone slapped somebody at the office holiday party, lol. Of course they need to act like they’re looking into it even if nothing comes of it.
If they actually took it seriously, they would’ve paused the show and had a producer address what happened. They did nothing to intervene and that makes them look bad IMO. Moving on like nothing happened wasn’t it.
Rock did look backstage twice immediately afterwards and was apparently signaled to continue with the presentation
Yikes. That is a bad look for the Academy.
LOL, are they going to formally review giving an Oscar to a convicted rapist, too, or is that only done when it happens on camera?
They aren’t reviewing whether he keeps the Oscar. They are reviewing what other actions to take against him as an Academy member, like suspending or revoking his membership
They DO have that recording of Weinstein.
Sounds like awards shows need to just do away with comedians hosting altogether. Society is way too thin skinned these days to handle it, someone is always getting offended.
Agreed, especially multi-millionaire celebs. They only accept fawning compliments.
I’m thinking they need to go a step further and do away with award shows.
Suggested on CB that someone just make an announcement and keep shows moving was probably right.
Do we really even need awards shows after this? Asking for a friend.
Will has already issued a public apology.
Chris needs to issue a public apology to Jada.
Will needs counseling.
The academy should have a policy of always seeing everyone’s jokes ahead of time and no going off script.
Rock didn’t write the jokes. The Oscar hosts never do. They are written in a writers room. Look at the credits afterwards and you’ll see. So rock shouldn’t apologize for anything. The white dude in the writers room should apologize.
You are assuming Rock didn’t go off script though. I think if that was the joke that was written by the Oscar writers, we would have heard that already. Why would Rock take heat if he didn’t write the words? The Academy is denying they approved what Chris said.
The fact that there was ZERO security LOLOL
The Academy is a trade group and the Oscars are a marketing tactic for their product.
Does winning an Oscar mean an actor makes more $$? I don’t know. (Isn’t Will Smith already a top-paid actor?)
Would taking away the statue mean an actor would get paid less than if they had it? Probably depends on the circumstances – after all, they won it, they’re still the same actor.
In Smith’s case, it doesn’t matter whether they take it away or not, the damage is done.
Just have his academy membership revoke. And move on.
He won’t be able to cast a vote on future Oscar awards and lose his access to the academy’s streaming service, etc.
That would be punitive maybe, but yeah. That’s the least they could do. And stop inviting Rock to present or even host.
I read in the L.A. Times that they will hold a formal meeting regarding the incident on Wednesday. The most they may do is removed Smith from the Academy membership and perhaps ban him from the show for a few year.
The academy needs to apologize to Jada and so does Chris.
Apology??
Let him return his Oscar to show contrition.
Or revoke it
Otherwise it is just mealy mouth excusing of violent abuse.
Stand up for what you stand for.
or slink away.
Academy is doing a full slink, making excuses for the “inexcusable”,
Coming in on the ‘And that’s how we do it!’ side of the assault.