Actor Will Smith gets 10-year Oscar ban

In a statement provided to CNN, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Actor Will Smith gets a 10-year Oscar ban because of his Slap on comedian Chris Rock at this year’s Academy Awards.
“The Board of Directors has determined that for a period of 10 years commencing April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not participate in any Oscar event or program, including but not limited to the Oscars, in person or virtually,” said the Academy’s David Rubin and Chief Executive Officer. Executive Dawn Hudson announced in a statement Friday.

The Academy has banned Will Smith from the Oscars for 10 years following his attack on Chris Rock at this year’s ceremony. pic.twitter.com/6MR51s0WO5

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) April 8, 2022

The decision was made at a council meeting in Los Angeles earlier in the day.

The meeting was originally scheduled for April 18, but was expedited after Smith announced his retirement from the academy last week. In an earlier statement, the council said it hoped the matter would be “addressed in a timely manner”. People familiar with the matter previously told CNN that Smith’s resignation means he is no longer a part of the academy’s electoral body, but that doesn’t prevent the Oscar winner from being nominated in the future.

When the comedian appeared on stage at the Oscars on March 27, the actor lashed out at Rock for making a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s short hair.

Pinkett Smith lost her hair due to alopecia.

Rock did not speak publicly about the incident in detail.

A few days after it happened, Rock performed at a comedy show in Boston as part of his “Ego Death Tour” and said: “I don’t have a lot of boos about what happened, so if you come to see this Look, I wrote a whole show before this weekend. And I’m still working on what’s going on, so I’ll talk about it at some point. It’s going to be serious and it’s going to be fun. But now I’m going to talk about a few A jokes.”

The day after the incident, Smith publicly apologized to Chris Rock via social media.

Producers told Good Morning America that Smith also contacted Will Parker, the show’s producer, the next morning to apologize and express his embarrassment.

Parker told GMA that LAPD officers were willing to arrest Smith for battery, but Chris Rock said he didn’t want to.