Veteran actor Harry Lennix compared Smith’s sentence for slapping Chris Rock to a joke “prolonged out for a playground bully” that “reveals the shallowness of Hollywood’s morals” in a Variety on Saturday. Lennix, a prolific actor best known for his role in “The Five Heartbeats,” said it was “wholesale” for Smith to be allowed to accept the “King Richard” Oscar and refer to “God’s will”. in his speech. . “Smith’s barbarism took away his prestige all night,” wrote the 57-year-old Lenix. “This was proven when the surprised attendees of the Oscars applauded standing up to someone who had just attacked in front of their eyes.” Rock had made a bald joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia. Lennix had played the role of Pinkett Smith’s character, Niobe, in “The Matrix.” Will Smith accepts the Actor Award for Best Supporting Actor during the 94th Annual Academy Awards on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood. Getty Images “With a skillful strike, Will Smith created an existential crisis for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,” Lennix said. “The incident has hit the social norms so hard that it will devour our national conscience until it is atoned for in some way.” Smith resigned from the Academy before imposing a ten-year ban on the actor, but Lennix said the punishment was not commensurate with the crime. “The stain on Motion Picture Academy cannot be easily repaired. “The only hope for a justified pardon must include Smith returning the Best Actor award voluntarily.” Will Smith slaps Chris Rock during the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California on March 27, 2022. AFP via Getty Images Smith apologized to Rock online a day after the incident. Rock had not yet spoken in detail about the attack and declined to comment. The Academy is said to have split to force Smith to return his trophy. Some dissidents noted that those convicted of serious crimes such as Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski were able to keep their own, while others argued that the highly public nature of Smith’s attack required unprecedented cancellation.
