Over the past few weeks, the issue of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock has been at the forefront and center — and the latest developments involve Will and his punishment. Will Smith reacted by issuing an official statement following the academy’s decision to officially ban him from the Oscars for the next decade.
In a very brief and direct statement on the Academy’s 10-ban from the Oscars and all Academy-related events, Will Smith responded, “I acknowledge and respect the Academy’s decision.”
As we reported earlier, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said in a statement:
“The 94th Oscar was intended to celebrate the many people in our community who have done incredible things this past year; However, those moments were shrouded in unacceptable and harmful behavior that we saw Mr. Smith perform on stage. During our telecast, we did not properly address the situation in the room. For this, we are sorry. It was an opportunity to set an example for our guests, visitors and our academy family around the world and we were unprepared – unprepared for the unprecedented.
The Board has decided that for 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith will not be allowed to attend any of the Academy’s events or programs, in person or in person, which is not limited to the Academy Awards. “
The academy addressed Chris Rock and how they praised him for maintaining his composure after slapping him. “We would like to express our deep gratitude to Mr. Rock for his restraint in unusual circumstances,” they said.
Earlier this week, multiple projects that Will Smith was working on were put on hold indefinitely – including co-star Martin Lawrence’s fourth much-anticipated ‘Bad Boys’ film.
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