Will Smith Can’t Present Best Actress Award At Oscars After Chris Rock Slap—And Nobody Knows Who Will

Topline

When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at last year’s Academy Awards, he was banned from attending the ceremony for ten years—throwing a rock in this year’s upcoming Oscars, as acting winners are traditionally invited to future shows to present an award.

Key Facts

Typically, the winner of the Best Actor award is invited to the next year’s ceremony to present the award for Best Actress, and vice versa for the winners of Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

Shortly after Smith slapped Rock, he won Best Actor for his role in King Richard, the first of his career—but he isn’t expected to present an award during Sunday night’s ceremony due to the Academy’s decade-long ban.

It’s not clear who the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the program’s producers will tap to present the Best Actress award, one of the most coveted of the night.

Last year’s other major acting award winners have been announced as presenters for this year’s show, including Jessica Chastain, who won Best Actress for her performance in The Eyes Of Tammy Faye, Ariana DeBose, who won Best Supporting Actress for her role in West Side Story and Troy Kotsur, who won for his role in CODA.

Nominees for Best Actress this year include Cate Blanchett (Tár), Ana de Armas (Blonde), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie), Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans) and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once).

Rock has not been announced as a presenter.

News Peg

The Oscars air Sunday at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC.

Tangent

Questlove will attend this year’s ceremony as a presenter. Smith slapped Rock as he was presenting the award that Questlove won, Best Documentary Feature, at last years’ ceremony, and the incident overshadowed his win.

Key Background

While onstage last year, Rock ad-libbed a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, who was seated close to the stage with her husband, Will Smith. Rock compared her bald hairstyle to the military crew cut sported by Demi Moore in GI Jane. Pinkett Smith has a condition called alopecia, which causes hair loss. Smith initially laughed at the joke, then screamed at Rock after the joke, then resolutely marched onstage and slapped Rock in the face. Smith resigned as a member of the Academy, and he was barred from attending the group’s events for a decade, though he can still be nominated. Smith released an apology video in July. Rock stayed quiet about the incident until last week, when it was one of the main subjects he discussed in his live Netflix comedy special Selective Outrage. “I watch Emancipation just to see him get whooped,” Rock said, referencing Smith’s movie in which he portrays an enslaved man.

What To Watch For

Last month, Academy CEO Bill Kramer said the organization implemented a “crisis team” to react to potential emergencies, after the group was criticized last year for its response to the slap. Smith was not kicked out of the ceremony and was able to take the stage shortly after to accept his Best Actor trophy. “Because of [the slap] last year, we’ve opened our minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars,” he told Time. “We have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and many plans in place. We’ve run many scenarios. So it is our hope that we will be prepared for anything that we may not anticipate right now but that we’re planning for just in case it does happen.”

Further Reading

Oscar Nominations 2023: ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Leads Pack (Forbes)

Oscars 2022: ‘CODA,’ Takes Best Picture—But Will Smith’s Slap Overshadows Academy Awards (Forbes)