The Academy asked Will Smith to retire after beating Rock, he refused and later gave him his award for best actor.

The Academy asked Will Smith to retire after beating Rock, he refused and later gave him his award for best actor.

 

 

Editorial office, March 31.- The Hollywood Academy invited actor Will Smith to send a written statement about his conduct at the Oscars on Sunday, where he slapped comedian Chris Rock for a comment about his wife.

 

 

According to a statement, the actor has 15 days to submit that statement before the Academy "takes any disciplinary action" on April 18, which could be "suspension, expulsion, or any other sanction permitted by statute."

 

Likewise, the institution clarified that it asked Smith to leave the ceremony after the incident, but he refused, although he admitted that he "could have handled the situation differently."

 

 

This clarification comes after one of the presenters of the gala, Wanda Sykes, criticized the permissiveness of the Academy with the actor on the Ellen DeGeneres program.

 

 

“If you assault someone, they escort you out of the building and that's it. But to be allowed to continue… I think it was unpleasant,” said Sykes, who then had to go on stage to continue hosting the ceremony.

 

Likewise, the presenter considered that the fact that they let Smith enjoy the rest of the gala and accept the Oscar sent "the wrong message" to the spectators.

 

The Academy has also raised the tone in its latest statement, calling Smith's action "deeply shocking and traumatic to witness in person and on television."

 

Likewise, he has apologized to Rock, thanking "his resilience on stage".

"We also apologize to our nominees, guests and viewers for what happened during what should have been a celebration event," she added.

"Things developed in a way that we could not have anticipated," justified the organization.

No mention of Will Smith's Oscar withdrawal

Despite the fact that the first measure that was mentioned was the withdrawal of the Oscar that Smith won that night for starring in "King Richard", the statement does not refer to that possibility and generalizes when applying "other sanctions".

 

The open investigation against him is due, according to the Academy, to violations of its Standards of Conduct, including "inappropriate physical contact, abusive or threatening behavior, and compromising the integrity of the Academy."

 

Smith himself apologized Monday for the slap on his Instagram profile.

"My behavior at the Oscars last night was unacceptable and inexcusable," he said.

Previously, his acceptance speech when collecting the Oscar, in which he defended himself as "protector" of his family and stated that "love leads to crazy things", was heavily criticized by some viewers, who pointed out that his wife could defend herself by herself before a joke in bad taste.

 

 

At the gala, Rock took the stage at the Dolby Theater to present the Oscar for best documentary and made a joke about the shaved head of Jada Pinkett-Smith, who has publicly acknowledged that she suffers from alopecia, comparing her to Lieutenant O'Neil of the Ridley Scott movie.

 

After Pinkett-Smith briefly closed her eyes in annoyance, her husband (who smiled earlier) got up from her seat and walked onto the stage to slap Rock in the face.