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Los Angeles (AFP) – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body that administers the Oscars, said Wednesday that it had asked actor Will Smith to leave the Oscars following slapping fellow comedian Chris Rock, but he refused.
“While we wish to make clear that Smith was asked to leave the show but declined, we also understand that we might have handled the situation differently,” the academy said in a statement.
The academy added in its statement that its board of directors on Wednesday began considering “disciplinary action once morest Will Smith for violating the academy’s policies, including inappropriate physical contact, abusive or dangerous behavior, and undermining the integrity of the academy.”
The statement indicated that the board of directors will decide during a meeting to be held on April 18 whether to take “disciplinary action” once morest the Hollywood star and what this action will be.
Such action might include suspension or even expulsion of Will Smith from the Academy.
The statement said the academy sent Smith at least 15 days’ notice that its board of directors would vote on the violations he committed and the penalties that might be imposed on him, within a deadline that would give the representative “an opportunity to be heard through a written response.”
On Monday, Smith apologized on Instagram to fellow actor Chris Rock for slapping him during the Oscars Sunday night over a joke in which the comedian mocked the shaved head of Jayda Pinkett Smith, the Hollywood actor’s alopecia areata wife.
“Chris, I would like to publicly apologize to you,” Smith wrote on Instagram. “What you did crossed the line and was wrong. I feel ashamed, and what I did is not indicative of the man I want to be.”
Smith’s apology came in the wake of the incident, which took place live on the air and astounded the audience who were present in the hall and the spectators who watched the evening from their homes.
In his humor, Rock likened Smith’s wife’s short hair to Demi Moore’s clean-shaven head in GI Jane. It was noted that what Rock said was very upsetting to Pinkett Smith, who had previously spoken publicly regarding her hair loss due to her alopecia areata.
Although Smith at first laughed in jest, he soon went up to the stage and slapped Rock hard in the face, the sound of the slap being heard in the microphones to the amazement of the audience in the hall and the spectators who watched the evening from their homes.
“Wow. Wow. Will Smith just slapped me,” said the shocked Rock. “It was a joke regarding GI Jane,” he added, justifying his joke.
But Smith, who had returned to sit next to his wife, replied, “Let my wife’s name out of your damn mouth!”
© 2022 AFP