(CNN) — Will Smith will not be able to attend the Academy Awards for the next ten years as a result of slapping comedian Chris Rock onstage at this year’s Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced in a statement. obtained by CNN.
“Today, the Board of Governors convened a meeting to discuss how best to respond to Will Smith’s actions at the Oscars, in addition to accepting his resignation,” read the statement from Board Chairman David Rubin and the executive director, Dawn Hudson. “The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years beginning April 8, 2022, that Mr. Smith will not be able to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards. of the Academy”.
Will Smith’s response
Actor Will Smith issued a quick and concise statement about his ban from the Oscars for the next decade. “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision,” the actor said in a statement to CNN.
The decision was made during a Board of Governors meeting earlier in the day in Los Angeles. The meeting to discuss sanctions, initially scheduled for April 18, was accelerated after Smith announced his resignation from the Academy last week. The Board of Governors said in a previous statement that they wanted the matter “handled in a timely manner.”
Smith’s resignation means he is no longer part of the Academy’s voting body, but it does not prevent the Oscar winner from being nominated in the future, a source with knowledge previously told CNN.
The letter added: “The 94th Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many people in our community who did incredible work last year, however those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and hurtful behavior we saw Mr. .Smith exhibit on stage”.
“During our broadcast, we failed to adequately address the situation in the room,” the letter said. “For this, we are sorry. This was an opportunity for us to set an example for our guests, viewers and our Academy family around the world, and we fell short, unprepared for something unprecedented.”
The Board of Governors said in a previous statement that they wanted the matter “handled in a timely manner.”
The moment of tension
The actor punched Rock when the comedian was onstage hosting the Academy Awards on March 27 after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s very short hair.
Pinkett Smith suffers from hair loss due to alopecia. Rock has not spoken in depth publicly about the incident.
Days after it happened, Rock appeared at a comedy show in Boston as part of his “Ego Death Tour” and said, “I don’t have a ton of sh*t about what happened, so if you came to hear that , I had you like a whole show that I wrote before this weekend. And I’m still processing what happened, so at some point I’m going to talk about that sh*t. And it’s going to be serious and fun. But right now I’m going to tell some jokes.
In its letter, the Academy also offered its “profound gratitude to Mr. Rock for maintaining his composure under extraordinary circumstances.”
Smith publicly apologized to Rock the day after the incident via social media.
Smith also approached the show’s producer, Will Packer, the next morning, apologized and expressed his embarrassment, the producer told “Good Morning America.”
During the “GMA” interview, Packer said LAPD officers were prepared to arrest Smith for assault, but Rock said he didn’t want that.
Cheri Mossburg and Brian Stelter contributed to this report.
