Will Smith Slapped With 10-Year Ban by Academy Awards After Chris Rock Incident

• Will Smith has been banned from attending the Oscars and other Academy Awards events for the next 10 years
• This follows Smith's actions at the 94th Oscars event where he slapped Chris Rock after he told a joke at Smith's wife's expense
• The ban does not stop Smith from being nominated for and winning Academy Awards during his ban and the organisation stopped short of a permanent expulsion

American actor Will Smith has been banned from attending the Oscars and any other Academy Awards event following his actions on the night of the 94th Oscars awards.

The world watched on live television as Will Smith slapped Chris Rock across the face after he told a joke at Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's expense.

Smith has been given a 10-year ban following a decision by the board of the Academy Awards. The ban is effective from the 8th of April 2022 until the 7th of April 2032 according to News24.

Will Smith accepted the ban and said that he would respect the Academy's decision. The Academy banned Smith for his use of profanity and violence which contravened their code of conduct at the awards.

What the ban means for Will Smith

Smith can still be nominated for an Oscar but he cannot vote for the awards and he cannot accept the award in person. He would have to send a representative in his place according to USA Today.

The Academy could have permanently expelled him from the organisation and banned him from being nominated or winning any awards but they held back, probably due to Smith's resignation from the Academy and his apology.

So essentially the ban does little to stop Smith from being nominated for or winning awards. The Academy had been criticised for its slow reaction to events, allowing Smith to resign before coming to a decision on the actor's fate.

He overreacted: Jada Pinkett says Chris Rock slap shouldn't have happened

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the much talked about the moment when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars continued to cause a buzz on social media and Jada Pinkett’s take on the matter has now been made known.

According to reports from Daily Mail, a source close to the couple claimed that Jada wished Will had not slapped Chris Rock.

Recall that on March 28, 2022, Chris Rock had joked about Jada’s hair loss at the Oscars and Will Smith got on stage to give him a slap across the face before going back to his seat where he shouted at the comedian to keep his wife’s name out of his fu*cking mouth.

Source: Legit.ng