Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Janet Yang admitted that the Academy's response to Will Smith's slapping Chris Rock was not good enough. During an award presentation at the 94th Academy Awards, Rock improvised a joke about Smith's wife Jada Pinkett-Smith's alopecia which led to Smith storming the stage and slapping Rock. Smith then marched back to his seat where he shouted, "Keep my wife’s name out your f--king mouth!" Later that evening, Smith was awarded Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Richard Williams in the sports drama, King Richard.
While speaking at the Oscar Nominees Luncheon (via Deadline), Yang called the response to Smith's slap was just not good enough. During the opening remarks of the annual event, the Academy president called last year's on-stage assault "unacceptable" and pledged to do better in the future. Read what Yang told the nominees below:
“I’m sure you all remember we experienced an unprecedented event at the Oscars. What happened onstage was fully unacceptable, and the response from our organization was inadequate. We learned from this that the Academy must be fully transparent and accountable in our actions, and particularly in times of crisis you must act swiftly, compassionately and decisively for ourselves and for our industry. You should and can expect no less from us going forward.”
What Happened to Will Smith After the Oscars
Immediately following the slap, Smith returned to his seat before later accepting the award for Best Actor. There was immediate backlash from peers and viewers around the world, calling Smith's actions reprehensible. Although the actor did not directly address the controversy in his acceptance speech, he released a formal written apology to Rock the next day. However, it would take months until Smith would apologize to Rock on-camera.
In the month following the incident, Smith resigned from the Academy and was issued a decade-long ban from the ceremony. However, the actor can still be nominated for future awards. A number of Smith's upcoming projects were affected by the fallout of the assault. Bad Boys 4 was reportedly put on hold shortly after the incident and Smith's upcoming Netflix film, Fast and Loose, saw its production halted as well. AppleTV+'s highly-anticipated film Emancipation, in which Smith portrays a slave who escapes to freedom, was nearly delayed to 2023 in response to the actor's Oscar actions. However, the film was released on schedule and was met with mostly negative reviews.
Although Smith faced a brief setback, production on his films has continued forward, showing that his career still has momentum. Bad Boys 4 has recently been officially confirmed with Smith returning as Detective Mike Lowrey and Martin Lawrence reprising his role as Detective Marcus Burnett. With nearly a year past since the Oscar slap, only time will tell how the incident has affected Smith's prestigious Hollywood career.
Source: Deadline