Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Will Smith, Celebrity, Oscars, Chris Rock
Anish Vij
People who want Will Smith to give his Oscar back after slapping Chris Rock in the face have pointed out that Harvey Weinstein, who was prisoned for sexual assault and rape, has been involved in 81 Oscar wins, without any calls for returning his one individual award.
The Fresh Prince actor smacked Rock across the face after he made a joke about his wife Jada.
Many have called for Smith to give his award back due to him appearing to break The Academy's code of conduct.
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However, people have looked at the seriousness of Weinstein's crimes and are confused as to why the Academy hasn't looked into the possibility of taking back his awards.
Weinstein has won one Oscar as an individual - Best Picture for 1998's Shakespeare in Love which he produced - but the Weinstein Company has been involved in 81 wins and the disgraced studio exec was associated with the relevant actors, designers, musicians, writers, cinematographers, etc.
Weinstein was handed a 23-year prison sentence in March 2020 after being found guilty of committing a first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape.
Users on social media have expressed their discontent with the 'double standards' of the two situations.
One user wrote: "Double standard as it's finest."
"They better get a truck to collect all of Weinstein 's Oscars before they say one word to Smith," another added.
A third commented: "All the sudden Hollywood wants to recognise an assault that everyone knows happened."
"All in all if he has to hand his back, all the others should too," someone else suggested.
Well, if we look back at what happened last night, Chris made a joke about Pinkett Smith, saying she looked like 'GI Jane' and Will completely lost it.
After returning to his seat, Smith shouted: "Keep my wife's name out your f**king mouth."
The actor later addressed the incident in his Oscar-winning speech, saying: "I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees.
"Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things."
The 53-year-old picked up his first-ever Oscar, taking home the Best Actor accolade for his leading role in King Richard.
The Academy did respond to the incident, though, writing on Twitter: "The Academy does not condone violence of any form.
"Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world."
The LAPD also say they are 'aware of the incident'.