Following the controversial drama that occurred at the just concluded Oscars Award, which saw American Star actor Will Smith slap comedian Chris Rock on the face after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss. The drama trended worldwide and was on the lips of many, with a large number of people criticizing Will Smith’s despicable action for going so low at a prestigious awards ceremony.
Having regretted his actions, the Men In Black actor tendered an apology to the Oscar Academy for his action, as well as publicly apologizing to comedian Chris Rock via a lengthy Instagram post. Just recently, the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences convened to discuss the consequences of actor Will Smith’s unpleasant action at the 94th Oscars Awards and concluded with the decision to ban the actor from the Oscars award ceremony for 10 years.
According to information gotten from reliable sources, it was disclosed that there were several calls from industry insiders and movie fans for Will Smith’s Oscar award to be taken back from him.
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Even though the actor had earlier announced his resignation from the Oscars Academy after the slap incident, he was however handed a ban by the Academy. The ban will however see Will Smith restricted from attending any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, but not limited to academy awards. Although his resignation and ban will not preclude him from being nominated or winning a future Academy award.
The Academy statement reads;
“The 94th Oscars was meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year; however, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage.
During our telecast, we did not adequately address the situation in the room. For this, we are sorry. This was an opportunity for us to set an example for our guests, viewers, and our Academy family around the world, and we fell short unprepared for the unprecedented.
Today, the Board of Governors convened a meeting to discuss how best to respond to Will Smith’s actions at the Oscars, in addition to accepting his resignation. The Board has decided, for 10 years from April 8, 2022, that 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 action we are taking today in response to Will Smith’s behavior is a step toward a larger goal of protecting the safety of our performers and guests and restoring trust in the Academy. We also hope this can begin a time of healing and restoration for all involved and impacted.”
There are so many lessons to learn from Will Smith’s slap saga, as it is a wake-up call to everyone to always put their emotions in check and not let it get the better part of them. It is often said that ‘talent will get you in a door, but character will keep you in the room. A talented person without a good character is just like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode because one day such a person will let hell loose that will cost them so many things.
We all need to think twice before taking any action because there are certain actions one can take that will be the end of a person’s career. Just like Will Smith, despite all the beautiful career he has built over the years, one careless mistake plunged his career into a mess.