Academy: Will Smith refuses to leave the Oscars after slap rock

New York (AFP) – Will Smith was asked to leave the Oscars Sunday after hitting up Chris Rock, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Wednesday. But he refused to do so.

The Academy’s Board of Regents met on Wednesday to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Smith for violating the group’s standards of conduct. The academy said disciplinary action against Smith could include suspension, expulsion or other penalties.

Many focused on why Smith was allowed to remain front row seated at the Dolby Theater after the accident. And the Academy suggested, Wednesday, that it tried to take the actor out of the audience.

“Things unfolded in a way we weren’t expecting,” the academy said. “While we would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the party and declined, we also recognize that we could have handled the situation differently.”

A representative of the academy declined to give details of how it attempted to remove Smith. After Smith hit on Rock in response to a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, several stars including Denzel Washington, Bradley Cooper and Tyler Perry spoke with the 53-year-old Smith.

The academy said Smith has the opportunity to defend himself in a written response before the board meets again on April 18. The Film Academy earlier condemned Smith’s stage attack on Rock, but used stronger language on Wednesday.

“Mr. The Academy said Smith’s actions at the 94th Academy Awards were a profound shock, and an extreme shock to watch in person and on television.” Mr. Rock, we apologize for what you experienced on our stage and thank you for your resilience at that moment. We also apologize to our nominees, guests, and viewers for what happened during what should have been a celebratory event.”

On Monday, Smith issued an apology to RockThe academy and viewers said, “I was out of line and I was wrong.”

Rock, who has yet to respond publicly to the incident, performed a stand-up Wednesday night in Boston. He was greeted with a standing ovation.

“how was your weekend?” Rock started who then warned the crowd that he didn’t have much to say about the Oscars, according to the audio released by the Hollywood outlet Variety. ‘I’m still sort of processing what happened’

A representative for Smith did not immediately respond to messages Wednesday regarding the academy’s recent moves.

Only a very few Academy members were fired, including Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski, Bill Cosby and actress Carmine Caridi, who was fired for participating in the awards show.

“We’re not going to take an Oscar from him,” Whoopi Goldberg, a member of the Academy’s Board of Regents, said Monday on The View. (Even Oscars won by expelled members have never been ordered to return.) Goldberg added that “nobody is feeling well about what happened.”

Others from Sunday’s television broadcast also began speaking out. co-host Wanda Sykes told Ellen DeGeneres in an interview It aired on April 7 that she felt physically ill after slapping Smith Rock. When he returned to his seat, Smith shouted twice at Rock “To keep my wife’s name out of your mouth (expletive)”.

“I’m still slightly shocked by that,” Sykes said in a video posted on Wednesday.

Within an hour, Smith was back on stage receiving a Best Actor award for his performance in King Richard. Many at the Dolby Theater gave him a standing ovation.

“I was like, ‘How gross is this? That’s the wrong message. You assault someone and you get escorted out of the building and that’s it. For them to let it continue, I thought it was disgusting,’” Sykes said. “I wanted to be able to run.” (on stage) after his win and I say, “Ah, unfortunately, he won’t be here tonight.”