Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Will Smith, Oscars, Twitter
Shola Lee
People are calling out other celebs that haven't faced disciplinary action from the Academy board, as Will Smith is banned from events for the next decade.
Smith slapped Rock on the stage of the Academy Awards last month, with the incident prompting a quick review from the Oscars board.
Today it was announced that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided the King Richard actor will be banned from Academy events for the next decade.
People have since taken to Twitter to comment on the news, suggesting that it seems unfair that Smith is facing a significant ban from events, while controversial celebrities haven't faced such harsh action in the past.
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One user wrote: "Academy banned Will Smith for 10 years, but not: Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein, Casey Affleck, Woody Allen, Mel Gibson, Roman Polanski, James Franco, James Toback, Dustin Hoffman And there are allegations against Jeffrey Tambor, Richard Dreyfuss, James Woods, and Ansel Elgort. #Oscars."
The user, however, later clarified that 'Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski were expelled from the Academy after extensive and intense public pressure.'
Meanwhile, another user said: "I mean it's wrong that he did but banned from Oscars is kinda too far."
"10 years is complete overkill when polanski and weinstein werent even expelled till 2018 & 2017 respectively," wrote a third, while a fourth said: "This is so excessive lol."
The news of Smith's ban came earlier than expected, as the team were due to meet on 18 April, but brought the hearing forward to deliberate on the issue after Smith announced his resignation from the Academy.
The resignation came after Smith publicly apologised for slapping Rock, after the comedian made an insensitive joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Today, 8 April, it was announced Smith has been banned from future events, with the Academy saying in a statement: "The 94th #Oscars were 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."
Will Smith won an Oscar for Best Actor shortly after the altercation with Rock on stage.
Upon returning to his seat, Smith told Rock to 'keep [his] wife's name out [his] f***ing mouth,' in reference to the 'G.I. Jane 2' joke Rock made.
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After the incident, Rock and Smith were said to have patched things up at the afterparty, with Smith later apologising on social media.
In a post Smith shared on Instagram, he wrote: “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally."
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