The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences explained on Wednesday that this meeting had been brought forward since Will Smith has meanwhile resigned on his own. The actor therefore no longer needs a period of time to prepare his defense in this disciplinary procedure which might lead to a suspension or expulsion from the organization.
“It is in the best interests of all parties to resolve the matter as soon as possible,” Academy President David Rubin wrote in a letter to members.
Will Smith, 53, took the lead last Friday, apologizing for his action and announcing his resignation from the Academy.
“My actions at the 94th Academy Awards were shocking, painful and inexcusable,” the actor wrote, five days following taking the stage to slap comedian Chris Rock who had just made a joke regarding his close-cropped hair. wife.
Jada Pinkett Smith went public a few years ago with alopecia, a condition that causes severe hair loss.
A few tens of minutes following the slap, Will Smith returned to the Oscars stage to receive the best actor award for his role in “The Williams Method”.
In a letter to members of the Academy, the leaders said they were “outraged” by the incident, lamenting that the ceremony “was overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior of a contestant on stage”.
The board of directors had opened a disciplinary procedure but Chris Rock explicitly refused to file a complaint following the slap. “I’m still digesting what happened. So, at some point, I’m going to talk regarding this stuff. And it will be serious and funny”, he had said at the start of a show, a few days following the incident.
Voices were raised to demand that Will Smith be stripped of his Oscar, but others pointed out that neither Harvey Weinstein, a former Hollywood mogul convicted of rape and sexual assault, nor director Roman Polanski had been forced to return their statuette following being expelled from the Academy.
