Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has opened a formal review and investigation into the smacking of a comedian, Chris Rock, by Oscar winner, Will Smith, onstage at the Oscars.
The comedian (Chris) made a joke about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith and her hairstyle, which made Smith walk up the stage and smacked him.
The announcement was made on Monday in a statement issued by AMPAS.
While there is no chance Smith could lose his Oscar, a full-on Board of Governors meeting scheduled for May 30 surely will see a lot of questions asked about why the actor was not removed from his front row seat at the Dolby Theatre after striking Rock.
SAG-AFTRA, which gave its Best Actor award to Smith for King Richard, issued a pointed statement today saying: “Violence or physical abuse in the workplace is never appropriate and the union condemns any such conduct. The incident involving Will Smith and Chris Rock at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable.”
The actor’s wife (Pinkett) has alopecia and has been public about it, talking on TikTok about her struggles, saying, “I don’t give two craps what people feel about this bald head of mine.”
40 minutes after the smack, Smith was onstage again to receive his Best Actor Award.
In an emotional but often self-justifying speech, a tearful Smith made a point of apologizing to almost everyone but Rock.
Smith, in an online post on Monday afternoon, posted: “Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I react emotionally.”
Smith apologized to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Oscar show producers, the Williams family and “my King Richard Family.”
In his words: “I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong.”
Chris was contacted by LAPD officers on the scene at the Hollywood & Highland venue soon after the altercation with Smith occurred.
He declined at the time to file a report. However, the Fargo star does have up to six months to change his mind.
In California, an assault like what Smith battered Rock with is considered a misdemeanor that’s punishable by up to six months in jail and a $100,000 fine.
Looking to avoid censure or suspension from AMPAS out of their probe, even the faint possibility of such a punishment through the courts isn’t something the usually strategic Smith wants to give much oxygen to.