The Academy says it can “arrange” for Will Smith to get his Oscar engraved
"I don’t know if he should personally come," says Academy president Janet Yang
Aux News Oscar
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ melodramatics surrounding Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars continue, with president Janet Yang decreeing that Smith can finally get his status engraved for his King Richard win.
“He earned the Oscar,” Yang tells The Hollywood Reporter on its Awards Chatter podcast. He certainly did, and is far from the worst person to ever receive an award from the Academy.
“I don’t know if he should personally come. But yeah, we can arrange,” she adds, as if Smith poses some continuous threat to society.
Usually, the winners attend the Governors Ball following the Oscars ceremony where they receive a nameplate for their award. However, following The Slap, Smith did not make it to the secondary location and has since been banned from Academy events for the next ten years.
Yang goes on to recount The Slap (meaning: when Smith got fed up with Chris Rock poking fun at his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith) from nearly a year ago. Since then, the incident has been a relentless talking point of the Academy and Jimmy Kimmel, who took plenty of opportunities to joke about the slap while hosting the 96th Oscars.
“Like everyone else, in the beginning when Will walks onto stage, we’re like, ‘Oh, this is a funny bit. He is going to pretend he slaps him, and then Chris is going to act stunned,’” Yang explains. “And then it was like, ‘Ok, well that’s over.’ And then he goes back to his seat and then he starts shouting—that’s when, of course, everyone said, ‘Oh my God, this is real.’”
Oh my God, it was real. Over the last year, Smith has done plenty of apologizing and groveling to the fragile sensibilities of his fellow actors and the Academy, while still being revered as some deranged psycho for slapping another grown man. He won the award, just engrave it, and then we can all move on and stop acting like it’s the most violent thing that’s ever been displayed on American television.
49 Comments
They should rescind the Oscar & ban him from ever being nominated again.
Why? The Oscars have celebrated literal child molesters, wife beaters, open racists and other monsters. Will Smith had a bad moment on camera and you all treat him like a beast. Fucking Jared Leto was in the audience.
Only if they rescind all the Oscars won by Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Emil Jannings, Kevin Spacey, Mel Gibson, Dennis Hoffman, Casey Affleck…
I have a label maker I really like that he can borrow.
It’s the same one I gave Tim Whatley.
Smith has done plenty of apologizing and groveling to the fragile sensibilities of his fellow actors and the Academy, while still being revered as some deranged psycho for slapping another grown man. He won the award, just engrave it, and then we can all move on and stop acting like it’s the most violent thing that’s ever been displayed on American television. I love how NOW the AV Club is on the side of angels, declaring the “fragile sensibilities of actors” as the problem, and saying we should all just “move on” when they spent the last year pounding (slapping?) this story on here every day they could.This site, man…good lord…
“…while hosting the 96th Oscars.”95th
Can I get a 94th!?
Ba haha! I love that he just has generic Oscar.
I’d go to my nearest trophy store and have them make like dozens of little plaques and swap them out depending on my mood that day.
Shit like
“Best Dad”, “Hot Dog Eating Champ”, or even “Participation Trophy”.
I’d have some Office inspired ones made like Tight Ass Award or Bushiest Beaver.
I’d have it engraved with Haing S. Ngor’s name as a deep cut Simpsons joke.
Didn’t Jeremy Hawke from The Critic refer to him as “Doctor Hang-Ess-Na-gor”?
boo hoo, rich famous guy who assaulted someone at an awards show isn’t welcome back. are you really out here simping for this dude?
“Yang goes on to recount The Slap (meaning: when Smith got fed up with Chris Rock poking fun at his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith) from nearly a year ago.”Honestly, if people want The Slap to die, they should stop pretending that what happened wasn’t weird, or that you can justify doing something like that to a person on national TV.
Will Smith absolutely should not have struck Chris Rock but is it also wrong to think Chris Rock has also been – and continues to be an absolute fuckstick as well? There was at least one previous time a few years ago when he was much shittier to Jada though he claimed she started it (which as a grown-ass man he could have just I don’t know ignored it or at least not said anything publicly I guess?).
Yeah, but I don’t see countless, breathless articles defending Rock the way I do for Smith. Also, in the context of a comedy act during the Oscars, that kind of behavior is agreed on. It’s the comically tiny price you pay for being a millionaire in a world where people go hungry.All that and: no one deserves to get hit. In a war of words, if Smith made fun of him too, that would be fair.
Will Smith absolutely should not have struck Chris Rock but…The ‘but’ invalidates your statement. There’s no defending what Smith did. No buts.
There was at least one previous time a few years ago when he was much shittier to Jada
So what?
No, it’s not one of those “I’m not a racist but …” type conjunctions.It’s just details of previous potentially contributing events, not a justification for any of it.
No, it’s not one of those “I’m not a racist but …” type conjunctions.
Anything said before the ‘but’ is irrelevant, always.
It’s just details of previous potentially contributing events
That’s exactly what justification is. You’re trying to justify Smith’s actions be saying they had beef going back some time. Doesn’t matter if they did or didn’t have beef. Smith physically attacked Rock. There’s no justification for that. Period. Smith’s reasons for attacking Rock don’t matter.
“Will Smith absolutely should not have struck Chris Rock but is it also wrong to think Chris Rock has also been – and continues to be an absolute fuckstick as well?”
He stupid, whether you or ANYONE likes Chris Rock IS PRECISELY BESIDES THE FUCKING POINT.How are you this god damn stupid?
“There was at least one previous time a few years ago when he was much shittier to Jada”
So Rock deserved to be slapped because he was less mean to Jada than he’s been in the past?
THAT is your justification for it? God, you’re fucking stupid.
It was of course wrong for Smith to hit Rock. That’s not how adults settle disputes. But I just find it hard to care too much about it when stacked up against the many wrong-doings of others in the industry that we’ve all become far too familiar with. Smith owes Rock an apology (which I believe has happened), Rock must decide if he will accept it, and the rest of us need to move the fuck on.
So what he joked about Jada? Big fucking deal. She’s in the public eye and he’s a comic. She’s Lady Macbeth and Will is her simp.
Yes, the fragile sensibilities of those who don’t want physical violence at an awards show they’re attending. How dare they…I remember when this site had a degree of respect.
I love that a site that is dedicated to tearing down any famous person based on even a whisper of a rumor based on hearsay that someone, somewhere might have something mean and may have hurt someone’s feelings; that this very same site is bending over backwards to excuse a violent assault that everyone on the planet witnessed and is now mocking those present who may have been affected by it.The Academy Awards in an industry event. 95% of the people there belong to a guild or a union. If a violent crime happened at a work event the previous year, and no one did anything about it at the time, you can make damn sure that legally they have to address it before the next event, much less morally.The hypocrisy here is astounding. Mean words = traumatic. Actual physical assault = get over it, babies.
Wow, does the AVClub practice selective outrage or what?
He should auction the oscar and donate the proceeds to the Slapped Comedians Emotional Support Foundation.
He’s obviously just “being punished” at this point. It’s not like he’s some maniac with a history of violence that they’re afraid to have in a room.
This. It’s punishment for the sake of punishment at this point. It’s completely divorced from Will Smith actually growing, atoning, or reconciling with Chris Rock now.
“He’s obviously just “being punished” at this point.”
No shit. What is happening is literally his punishment. Do you think you’ve enlightened anyone who thought this was about literally anything else?
Yeah, like what does anyone want him to do at this point? He’s been banned from Academy events, his career has clearly suffered, this event will follow him around for the rest of his life. When can he be forgiven?
Yeah, good point. I don’t know. I have no answers. I’M NOBODY’S FUCKING ROLE MODEL!!!
Brah, it’s only been a year.
The Slap (meaning: when Smith got fed up with Chris Rock poking fun at his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith)Or, accurately, when Rock told one (dated and not very funny) joke about Jada Pinkett Smith that Will Smith laughed at until he saw that his wife was pissed then physically assaulted a person on live television in front of millions of viewers.Are you fucking serious here?
Will Smith absolutely should not have struck Chris Rock but if that was the first time he’d made a joke about her, I doubt this would have happened.https://www.newsweek.com/chris-rock-mocked-jada-pinkett-smith-oscars-six-years-ago-2016-boycott-1692491#:~:text=Rock%20was%20presenting%20the%20Oscars%20that%20year%2C%20and,Will%20was%20this%20good%20and%20didn%27t%20get%20nominated.I think there might be more too. He claims she started it by trying to have him removed from an awards ceremony because of something to do with Will.https://www.marieclaire.com.au/chris-rock-oscars-slap-will-jada-smith
if that was the first time he’d made a joke about her, I doubt this would have happenedSo the fuck what? Chris Rock is a comedian. If the Smiths want to lead lives in the public eye — which it sort of looks like they do — I guess get used to having their names in peoples’ mouths?
So maybe that also had something to do with why he hit him. It doesn’t justify it one iota but it might have contributed to why he did it, perhaps?
That’s all irrelevent. It doesn’t justify Smith attacking Rock.
I’m not justifying it, just providing more information about potential prior disputes that might have contributed to last year’s events.
Those prior disputes, if real, are irrelevant. “He’s been mean to me for a long time!” isn’t justification for attacking someone.Attempting to provide context & history means that you’re justifying what Smith did. Doesn’t matter what Rock said. Smith doesn’t get to assault him.
“Will Smith absolutely should not have struck Chris Rock but if that was the first time he’d made a joke about her, I doubt this would have happened.”
It doesn’t matter if it’s the 1000th time.
Will. Smith. Was. Not. EVER. Offended. By. The. Joke.
Will. Smith. Laughed. At. The. Joke.This had nothing to do with the joke and everything to do with Will Smith feeling like he had to save face after his wife glared at him for what he did, which was laugh at the joke.
(Also, that’s what the entire room did. They laughed at the joke, because it was reasonably funny and completely harmless.”
I could make fun of your dead mother until the end of time and you are not allowed to physically do anything about it.Congratulations on learning how American law works.
but he was allowed to hit rock. nothing happened!
Didn’t you read the article? Something did happen: The Oscar he won that night isn’t engraved with his name! Talk about facing the consequences of his actions!
It starts with little gestures like this. The Academy will slowly soften their position over time. And I bet eventually they’ll lift the ban a lot earlier than they said.
“(meaning: when Smith laughed at got fed up with Chris Rock poking fun at his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and then saw the look on her face and decided he needed to man up, like the pathetic loser that he is)“Fixed your horseshit for you.
Why is AV Club pro assaulting people now? You can’t hit people for a joke, this is something you learn as children fer crissakes
Why is this taking so much thought? It’s a nameplate. You can’t just mail it?