In the last minute broadcast of the Oscars 2022, which were held last 27 March, came a time of shock and chaos: Will Smith slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett.
Minutes later, Smith won his first Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in “King Richard,” in which he played Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena Williams. Will cried throughout his speech, which ranged from a defense of his actions to an apology to the Academy.
A day later he also made a direct apology to Chris for having attacked him: “I would like to apologize publicly with you Chris. I was out of place and I was wrong”, and also recognized that “violence in all its forms is poisonous and destructive”.
However, neither his apologies nor his repentance have served so far, as the Hollywood Academy soon announced that it had opened a formal investigation against Will Smith saying that they would explore “further action and consequences in accordance with our statutes, standards of conduct, and California law.”
In addition, this 30 in March issued a statement claiming that Smith was asked to leave the Oscar ceremony, but the actor refused to do so.
“We would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognize that we could have handled the situation differently”, said yesterday’s statement, but today Variety reported that sources present at the ceremony said that Smith was not asked to leave and that producer Will Packer was “the key” for the actor to have stayed at the ceremony after the slap.
According to one of the witnesses, Packer said that he and the production “officially” wanted Smith to stay for the rest of the show.
On the other hand, Will Smith must submit a written statement about his conduct, since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited him to do so. You have 15 days before the 18 of April the Academy “take any disciplinary action”, which could be the “suspension, expulsion or any other sanction allowed in the statutes”.
