Will Smith Banned From The Academy Awards For The Next Decade

The 94th Academy Awards show will go down in infamy as one of the lowest points of any award show. The actions of Actor Will Smith were unjustifiable. And now the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that due to his action Will Smith will be barred from attending any event associated with the Academy for the next 10 years.

In a statement following a meeting to discuss disciplinary actions a spokesperson for the Academy said:

“The Board of Governors has decided, for a period of 10 years, from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards. We want to express our deep gratitude to Mr. Rock for maintaining his composure under extraordinary circumstances. We also want to thank our hosts, nominees, presenters and winners for their poise and grace during our telecast.“

This means that the actor will not be able to attend another award show associated with the Academy until 2033 (since the Oscars are usually held in March he will miss the 2032 show). This also means that the tradition of the Best Actor winner of the previous year presenting the award to that year’s winner will not be followed through at the 2023 show.

Despite this some are still saying that the actor should have his Oscar taken away. While the subject was discussed the entire board was split down the middle. One source told the L.A. Times “The members, of which there are over 9,000, with hundreds of WhatsApp groups flying about, are completely split.“

One argument presented was that both Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski still haven’t had their Oscars stripped. Which in that case shows the Academy’s somewhat incompetence in handling situations like that.

Will Smith’s career is now seemingly damaged at the moment. And it most likely will stay damaged as the fallout of his actions continues to grow.

Source: NY Times