Will Smith has decided to leave the Hollywood Academyin charge of organizing the Oscars, describing his performance at the 94th edition of these awards as “shocking, painful and inexcusable”, after slapping comedian Chris Rock live.
“I am resigning my membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and I will accept any consequences that the board deems appropriate,” the actor wrote in the text published by the magazine ‘Variety’.
“My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were ishocking, painful and inexcusable“.
“The The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dearest friends and loved ones.all those who attended and the global audiences at home”, reads the statement sent by his representative agency to the US media. Thus, Smith has reacted two days after the Hollywood Academy announced that it was opening a disciplinary file and that he was weighing the measures to apply against the actor.
In this sense, the interpreter emphasized in the statement that will accept “further consequences” from the Academy. In addition, Smith referred in his statement to the nominees and winners of this edition of the Oscars, whom he said had “deprived of celebrating his extraordinary work.”
Those present at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California, were gawked when Smith came on stage and slapped Rock after he made a joke about his wife’s shaved head.
Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopeciaa disease that causes hair loss.
“I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. My heart is broken,” confessed Smith, the fifth black man to win the Oscar for best actor.
“I want to bring the focus back to those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to return to the incredible work they do to support creativity and artistry in film,” he said.
Chris Rock Professionalism
In a letter to all members of the Academy, officials said they were “outraged” by the incident, lamenting that the event was “overshadowed by the unacceptable and aggressive behavior on stage of a nominee.”
The board of directors has initiated disciplinary proceedings against Will Smith.
Now must meet on April 18 to pronounce on the case and decide possible sanctions against the actor, who will have at least 15 days to offer a written statement.
possible sanctions
Between the foreseen sanctions by the internal regulations of the Hollywood Academy were the suspension or expulsion of the institution, which has about 10,000 members.
Some voices were raised to demand that strip Smith of his Oscarwhich was presented to him shortly after the incident, but others noted that neither Harvey Weinstein, the former producer convicted of rape and sexual assault, nor director Roman Polanski had been forced to return his statuette after being expelled from the Academy.
The producer of the night of the scars, Will Packer, praised the conduct and professionalism of Chris Rock, which, according to him, saved the night of the Oscars.
“Because Chris handled the moment with elegance and poise, the show was able to go on,” he told ABC television on Friday.
After being slapped as he began his presentation of the Oscar for best documentary and in the midst of general confusion, Rock managed to pick up the thread quickly, handing over the statuette accordingly.
He subsequently refused to file a complaint against Smith, which spared the actor from being detained by the police for his behavior.
This “gave us license in a way to continue with the show, which is what we were trying to do,” said the producer.
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Chris Rock first spoke about the incident on Wednesday night, shortly after taking the stage for a one-man show in Boston.
“I’m still processing what happened. At some point I’ll talk about that shit. And it will be serious and funny,” he said.