The Academy is taking full responsibility for its lack of a swift reaction after Will Smith assaulted Chris Rock at last year’s Academy Awards show.
“I’m sure you all remember we experienced an unprecedented event at the Oscars,” the organization’s president Janet Yang said while speaking at a nominees luncheon in Los Angeles on Monday.
“What happened onstage was fully unacceptable and the response from our organization was inadequate,” she continued. “We learned from this that the Academy must be fully transparent and accountable in our actions, and particularly in times of crisis you must act swiftly, compassionately and decisively for ourselves and for our industry. You should and can expect no less from us going forward.”
It all started when Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, having a bald head. This prompted the “Men in Black” actor to stride onto the stage and slap Rock across the face. After the slap, Smith said, “Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth!”
The Academy was later criticized for allowing Smith to remain in the audience and to take the stage after winning “Best Actor” for his performance in “King Richard.”
The organization sent out a tweet several hours after the event, which said, “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.”
Later, the organization launched a review of how the incident was handled. Smith was subsequently banned from Academy events for 10 years.
The “King Richard” actor has publicly apologized on multiple occasions and resigned from the Academy.
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive,” Smith captioned an Instagram post the day after the 2022 Academy Awards. “My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. 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 reacted emotionally.”
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris,” he went on. “I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
Rock chose not to press charges against Smith, saying he is “not a victim.”