Academy admits “the response was inappropriate” to Will Smith’s Oscar slap

The current president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), Janet Yang, admitted that the organization did not adequately deal with the consequences of actor Will Smith's slap on Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscar ceremony. lunch for the 2023 Oscar nominees, which took place last Monday (13).

“I'm sure you all remember that we experienced an unprecedented event at the Oscars,” Yang told attendees (Via Variety). And he added, “the What happened on stage was completely unacceptable and our organization's response was inadequate. We learn from this that the Academy must be fully transparent and accountable in our actions and, especially in times of crisis, you must act quickly, compassionately and decisively for ourselves and our industry. You should and cannot expect anything less from us going forward.“

Remember this case

At the 2022 Oscar ceremony, minutes before Will Smith took the Best Actor statuette for his work in “King Richard: Creating Champions”, Chris Rock improvised a joke about the look of Jada Pinkett Smith, actress and wife of fellow actor Will Smith, who lives with the autoimmune disease alopecia, which causes hair loss.

Outraged, Smith went on stage and ended up slapping the comedian in the face. Upon returning to his seat, the actor shouted “Take my wife’s name out of your f*cking mouth.”

On April 1, the actor decided to send a letter to the Academy asking for his membership to be revoked. A week later, the institution announced that the actor is barred from attending the Oscars or related events for the next 10 years. Comedian Chris Rock did not press charges against the actor.

Shortly afterwards, in June 2022, Will Smith's wife Jada declared that she hopes the actor and comedian can reconcile, during an episode of her show Red Table Talk.

Featured photo: Will Smith attacks Chris Rock – Reproduction/Robyn Beck/AFP