In case you’ve been living under a rock, Chris Rock got decked at the Oscars, live in front of 16.6 million viewers, according to Forbes. . The incident started when Rock told a rather unfavorable joke, “Jada, G.I. Jane Two, can’t wait to see it,” For clarification, Jada Smith had recently been diagnosed with Alopecia, a hair loss condition causing her to go bald. After seeing his wife’s unamused reaction, Will Smith arose from his seat, approached Chris on stage, and smacked him across his face.. Most of the audience assumed it was part of the joke or a publicity stunt. This makes sense, considering that Smith was seen laughing at the joke, however, Smith’s following statement after the slap implied that it was very much real in which he told Rock not to mention his wife’s name in colorful language.  Rock responded, “Wow, dude. Yeah, it was a GI Jane joke.”  

While in most cases, Smith should have been removed immediately from the premises for assault, he was not, and this raised some eyebrows to whether or not it had to do with his nominations. Surely enough, Smith went on to win an award for ‘Best Actor’ and gave a rather emotional and heartfelt speech in tears. “I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment, and I’m not crying for winning an award.” 

Many of the fellow Oscar nominees and winners had their moment stripped away after the focus was directed to the incident. Cnn asked “How much did Smith’s actions unjustly overshadow the powerfully moving words from winners like Ariana DeBose (Best Supporting Actress), Jane Campion (Best Director), Sian Heder (Best Adapted Screenplay) and Troy Kotsur (Best Actor in a Supporting Role), all of whom may never experience a night like that again in their lives? What right did Smith have to seize attention away from them?” The rest of the night lingered with awkward tension and disappointment, and the event ended without closure. 

The following morning, Smith issued a deeper apology regarding the incident. “I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris,” he shared. “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.” Smith’s apology may have reduced some tension and given some closure to the situation; however, it was not good enough for the academy. Smith has since been banned from attending the Oscars for the next ten years, and all of his current productions in the works have been put on pause. According to People Magazine, “a letter sent by Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson, the Academy decided “for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards.” While this may seem to be crushing his career, Smith can technically still win an Oscar, even if he does not attend. David Karger, Turner Classic Movies host explains, ““Will Smith’s punishment is not as severe as a lifetime ban from the Oscar ceremony, but it’s still a steep price for him to pay. He is still eligible to be nominated for an Academy Award, as is anyone who works on a project he stars in.” “But,” adds Karger, “I highly doubt he will hear his name called as a nominee in the near future.” Much work is needed to repair this meltdown, and only time will help things to die down. While this series of unfortunate events has been a chaotic and disappointing occurrence, there is still hope for the future that Smith is able to redeem himself and his reputation.