Will Smith banned from Oscars for 10 years over slapping Chris Rock

The motion picture academy on Friday banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years following his slap of Chris Rock at the Academy AwardsThe move comes after a meeting of the academys Board of Governors to discuss a response to Smiths actions It is unclear whether the ban would apply to future nominationsThe 94th Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year however those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr Smith exhibit on stage the academy said in a statementI accept and respect the Academys decision Smith said in response He preemptively resigned from the academy last week during the runup to the meeting calling his actions shocking painful and inexcusableThe academy also apologized for its handling of the situation and allowing Smith to stay and accept his best actor award for King Richard During our telecast we did not adequately address the situation in the room For this we are sorry the academy saidThis was an opportunity for us to set an example for our guests viewers and our Academy family around the world and we fell short unprepared for the unprecedentedIn a statement in the days following the Oscars the academy said Smith was asked to leave the ceremony but refused But its not clear how the message was delivered to Smith or what form it took and several media outlets reported that he was never formally told to leave the Dolby Theatre The Los Angeles Times reported in a story Thursday that Oscars producer Will Packer told Smith Officially we dont want you to leave We want you to stayThe ban means Smith will not be presenting one of the major awards at next years Oscars as is tradition for the best actor winner The academy in its Friday statement also expressed deep gratitude to Mr Rock for maintaining his composure under extraordinary circumstancesThe academys statement did not address whether Smith could be nominated for Oscars during his 10year ban Nor did it take any action to revoke Smiths Academy Award The academy has not revoked Oscars from expelled members Harvey Weinstein or Roman PolanskiWith his resignation last week Smith lost the ability to vote for nominees and winnersAt the March 27 Academy Awards Rock came out to present the best documentary Oscar and made jokes about several attendees including Smiths wife Jada Pinkett Smith Jada I love you GI Jane 2 cant wait to see it Rock saidPinkett Smith who has spoken publicly about her hair loss condition alopecia had a closely shaved head similar to that of Demi Moore in the 1997 movie Smith strode from his frontrow seat on to the stage and smacked Rock stunning the comedian the theater crowd and viewers at homeMany thought it was a planned gag set up by the show or the men themselves but the seriousness of the situation set in after Smith returned to his seat and angrily twice shouted at Rock to keep my wifes name out your expletive mouth Rock said he had no interest in pursuing charges when asked by police backstageSmith took the stage again less than hour later to accept his Oscar tearfully apologizing to the academy but notably omitting any mention of Rock He compared himself to Richard Williams the man he played in King Richard a fierce defender of his familyLater that night Smith danced with his trophy and his family and rapped along with his own songs in celebration of his win at the Vanity Fair postOscars partyRock has only briefly addressed the attack publicly saying at one comedy concert in Boston this week that he was still kind of processing what happenedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for the dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the contents in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever