Will Smith gets 10-year Oscar ceremony ban for slap that circled the world

AFP – Hollywood – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood announced Friday, April 8, that it is barring actor Will Smith from attending the Oscars for the next 10 years.

That decision was made due to the slap he gave to comedian Chris Rock in the last edition of the awards.

As indicated in a note by the organization’s board president, David Rubin, and executive director, Dawn Hudson, during those ten years Smith “will not be allowed to attend any Academy event or program, in person or virtually.”, including but not limited to the Academy Awards.”

In any case, the Academy keeps the Oscar for best actor won last month by King Richard and there was no mention of any eventual sanction or impediment to future nominations for the awards.

The aggression overshadowed the biggest movie gala and surprised the millions of viewers who followed it around the world.

“The 94th Academy Awards was meant to be a celebration of the many people in our community who did incredible work last year; however, those moments were overshadowed by Mr. Smith’s unacceptable and harmful behavior that we saw him exhibit on stage,” the academy board said in the statement released to the media.

In addition, the top managers of the American film industry indicated that “this action we are taking today in response to Will Smith’s behavior is a step towards a broader goal of protecting the safety of our artists and guests, and restoring confidence in The academy. We also hope this can begin a time of healing and restoration for everyone involved and affected.”