Will Smith has been banned from attending the Academy Awards for the next ten years after assaulting comedian Chris Rock on stage during this year’s annual event.
On Friday, Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson announced the ban in a statement.
“The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards,”
Smith responded to the ban in his own statement, saying, “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision.”
The Academy added, “The 94th Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year; however, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage.”
“During our telecast, we did not adequately address the situation in the room. 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 the unprecedented.”
Smith resigned from the Academy last week, meaning he is no longer a part of the voting body. Although, his resignation and ban do not mean he cannot be nominated in the future. Due to the “the standards of conduct rules” which “do not apply to awards eligibility,” Smith still has a chance to be nominated.
As a result of this situation, the Academy Awards will have to break tradition next year. Typically, the Best Actor winner from the previous year presents the award to the current year’s winner for Best Actress (and vice versa).
