Topline
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences launched a formal review Monday of Will Smith’s slapping of Chris Rock at Sunday’s Academy Awards, and could decide to punish the actor, though it’s not yet clear how.
US actor Will Smith (R) walks away from US actor Chris Rock onstage during the 94th Oscars at the … [+]
Key Facts
The Academy said Monday it “will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our By-laws, Standards of Conduct and California law,” after Rock declined to press charges with authorities Sunday.
According to The Academy’s code of conduct, members are expected to “behave ethically” and breaches include uninvited physical contact, according to Variety.
Punishment can include suspension or expulsion from the group, private or public reprimand, temporary or permanent loss of the ability to attend events or receive awards or “other sanctions that the Academy in its sole discretion may deem appropriate,” Variety reported, though sources told the outlet it’s unlikely Smith will have to give up his award.
Two members of the Academy have been permanently expelled previously: Actor Carmine Caridi in 2004 for violating voting rules, and Harvey Weinstein in 2017, after he was accused and later found guilty of sexual assault, according to the New York Times.
Weinstein’s expulsion was “largely symbolic,” according to the Times, and precludes him from voting for future Academy award shows—though his many Oscars have not been rescinded, and neither have director Roman Polanski’s, who has been accused of sexual assault.
Weinstein’s expulsion was granted by a two-thirds vote of the Academy’s board of governors, which is a 54-member body that currently includes actors Whoopi Goldberg, Laura Dern and Rita Wilson and directors Ava DuVernay and Stephen Spielberg, among other film industry leaders.
Crucial Quote
“We’re not going to take that Oscar from him,” Goldberg said Monday of Smith on The View, though Tuesday she said, “nobody is OK with what happened” and there “are big consequences.”
Key Background
While presenting an award Sunday, Rock compared Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, who has hair loss caused by alopecia, to G.I. Jane. Smith, who was seated close to the stage, slapped Rock across the face and yelled at him to “keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth.” Smith won the award for Best Actor shortly after. The King Richard actor issued an apology Monday, writing that “a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear” and though he “acted emotionally,” he was ultimately “out of line.” Rock has not commented on the incident.
Further Reading
The Academy Is Launching A Formal Review Of Will Smith’s Chris Rock Slap (Forbes)
Will Smith Apologizes To Chris Rock And The Academy For Oscars Slap (Forbes)
Academy Says It Does Not Condone Violence After Will Smith Slaps Chris Rock At The Oscars (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/03/29/suspension-expulsion-how-the-academy-could-punish-will-smith-for-slapping-chris-rock/