His first ever Oscar may not be with him for long
Will Smith could be stripped of his Oscar because of his attack on Chris Rock during the awards ceremony on Sunday night.
Comedian Rock was presenting the award for Best Documentary when he made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada.
This caused Smith to march on stage and hit the comedian round the face, before shouting at him from his seat to “keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth.”
VIA JAPANESE TELEVISION: The uncensored exchange between Will Smith and Chris Rock pic.twitter.com/j0Z184ZyXa
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 28, 2022
Just moments later, the actor picked up his first ever Academy Award, winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance as the Williams sisters’ father in King Richard.
But some are calling for him to be stripped of the award for his violent outburst, with the slap seemingly breaking the Academy’s code of conduct.
https://twitter.com/ShanakiTheWolf/status/1508298370984554503
Assault on international live broadcast should be enough to strip someone from their Oscar and land them in jail. Normalizing violence because you don't like a joke is insane and the sign of everything wrong with us these days.#ChrisRock #WillSmith #Oscars2022
— Eienkei 🇨🇦🦁🌞🇺🇦 (@Eienkei) March 28, 2022
In 2017, the Academy issued a Standards of Conduct document, which states that Academy members must “behave ethically by upholding the Academy’s values of respect for human dignity, inclusion, and a supportive environment that fosters creativity.”
It continues: “There is no place in the Academy for people who abuse their status, power or influence in a manner that violates recognized standards of decency.
“The Academy is categorically opposed to any form of abuse, harassment or discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disability, age, religion, or nationality.
“The Board of Governors believes that these standards are essential to the Academy’s mission and reflective of our values.”
The Academy issued a statement in the aftermath of the incident, stating that it “does not condone violence of any form.”
The Academy does not condone violence of any form.
Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 28, 2022
In his acceptance speech following his win for Best Actor, Smith gave a lengthy and tearful apology to Rock, the Academy and his fellow nominees, but this may not be enough to stop him being stripped of the award.
A source told the New York Post that it was “basically assault.”
“I think Will would not want to give his Oscar back, but who knows what will happen now,” they added.
Related links:
- Chris Rock’s 2016 Oscar joke about Jada Pinkett resurfaces following Will Smith slap
- Why you may see some category winners hold their award upside down at the Oscars
- Will Smith says he once had so much ‘rampant sex’ it made him ‘vomit’
