The decision was made during a meeting of the Board of Directors held earlier in the day in Los Angeles. The meeting, originally scheduled for April 18, is in a hurry after Smith announced his resignation from the Academy last week. Smith issued a quick, concise statement about his ban from the Oscars for the next decade. “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision,” the actor told CNN. CNN contacted Rock representatives for comment The decision came after “tons of discussions” about what the consequences of his slap on the stage would be, a member of the board told CNN. The Academy letter added: “The 94th Academy Awards were intended to be a celebration of the many people in our community who have done incredible work in the past year; in the tent. . “ “During our TV show, we did not adequately address the situation in the room,” the letter said. “For this, we are sorry. This was an opportunity for us to set an example for our guests, the spectators and the family of our Academy around the world, and we lost – unprepared for the unprecedented.” The Board of Governors said in an earlier statement that it wanted the issue “settled in a timely manner”. Smith’s resignation means he is no longer a member of the Academy’s electorate, but it does not prevent the Oscar winner from running in the future, a knowledgeable source told CNN.
What happened and what followed
The actor hit Rock as the comedian was on stage and presenting at the Oscars on March 27, after Rock had made a joke about the closed hair of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Pinkett Smith suffers from hair loss due to alopecia. Rock has not spoken in depth about the incident. Days after that happened, Rock appeared on a comedy show in Boston as part of the “Ego Death Tour” and said, “I don’t have a lot of talk about what happened, so if you’ve heard it, you’ll hear it. “A show I wrote before this weekend. And I’m still working on what happened, so at some point I’ll talk about this s ***. And it’s going to be serious and it’s going to be funny, but right now I’m going to say some jokes.” Smith publicly apologized to Rock the day after the incident via social media. Smith also contacted the series’ producer, Will Packer, the next morning, apologizing and expressing embarrassment, the producer told “Good Morning America”. During the interview at the GMA, Packer said that the Los Angeles Police Department was ready to arrest Smith for assault, but Rock said he did not want that. In its letter, the Academy expressed “deep gratitude to Mr. Rock for maintaining his composure under exceptional circumstances.” “This action we are taking today in response to Will Smith’s conduct is a step towards a broader goal of protecting the safety of our staff and guests and restoring confidence in the Academy,” the letter concludes. “We also hope that a period of treatment and rehabilitation can begin for all those involved and affected.” CNN’s Brian Stelter, Jason Kravarik and Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report.
