The Will Smith-Chirs Rock slap gate will go down as one of the most embarrassing and controversial moments in the history of the Academy Awards. While netizens are divided on the issue, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences apologised to the comedian. According to the news agency AFP, the Academy said in a statement, “Mr Rock, we apologise to you for what you experienced on our stage and thank you for your resilience in that moment.”
Prior to this, the Academy had released a statement that read, “The academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night’s show. We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our bylaws, standards of conduct and California law.”
After the incident, they had also put out a Tweet that read, “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 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 Academy (@TheAcademy) March 28, 2022
Meanwhile, Oscars producer Will Packer revealed that cops were ready to arrest the actor. “They (cops) were saying, you know, this is battery. They said we will go get him, we are prepared, we are prepared to get him right now, you can press charges, we can arrest him, you have – they were laying out the options. Chris was – he was being very dismissive of those options. He was like, ‘I’m fine,'” he told ABC Television.
For the uninitiated, Chris Rock, who was one of the presenters at the 94th Academy Awards joked about Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. The latter has alopecia for which she shaved her head. The comedian joked about her looking like GI Jane 2 and it was at this moment that Will got up to the stage and slapped him.
