Will Smith banned from Academy for 10 years

Will Smith was just banned from the Academy for 10 years after he slapped Chris Rock two weeks ago during the Oscars:

DECIDER – Will Smith is still facing the consequences of slapping Chris Rock on live TV at the 2022 Oscars: The actor has been banned from the Oscars for 10 years, according to a report from Variety.

On Friday, a week after Smith officially resigned from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences—getting ahead of his anticipated expulsion—the Board of Governors for the Academy met to discuss what further punishment could be taken against Smith, now that expulsion or suspension was no longer an option.

Called “sanctions” by Academy president David Rubin, Smith is officially banned from the Academy for a decade, beginning today, April 8, 2022. That includes all Academy-held events, including the Oscars ceremony. That means you won’t see Smith at the Oscars until at least 2033.

The board also apologized for not taking swift action during the awards ceremony.

Soon after the announcement, Smith responded to his ban with a statement, saying, “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision.”

I’m honestly surprised the Academy banned him for this long. But considering he resigned from the Academy on his own, it does seems somewhat moot at this point.

But the one thing this banishment does is take the decision for him to return out of his hands for at least ten years.

I am glad they did something about this even if it took them two weeks to figure it out. As I said before, it’s the children who saw that that concerned me more than anything else, and that’s something worth defending.

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