‘Suspend’ Will Smith a year
Once again, the Oscars show proved that unpredictability is often its hallmark. But violence shouldn’t be.
Will Smith barreling up to the stage, unbeckoned, to smack comic Chris Rock in the face for making a joke about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, was not just a shocker. It was an assault that should have been called out immediately for the unconscionable act that it was.
If the assault had been done by a player during an NBA or NFL game, he might have been suspended or fined for fighting. Instead Smith was allowed to walk back to his seat. Then he won the Oscar for lead actor. Smith used his moment onstage—this time legitimately invited up—for a tearful, self-indulgent speech about how, like the man he portrayed on screen, he, too, has to defend his family.
So that’s the lesson Smith took from Richard Williams—that hitting someone for making an offensive comment is defending your family?
“The Academy does not condone violence of any form,” the Academy tweeted Sunday night. Except that it did.
Smith received his Oscar and his accolades. All of us should be offended by the assault at the Oscars, and the academy should make it clear it will not go unpunished.
On Monday, the academy responded more strongly, saying it “condemns” Smith’s actions and added that it had begun a formal review and will “explore further action and consequences.”
It can start by making it clear to Smith and the public that he will not be invited back to the Oscar show next year as a guest or a presenter.
The actor finally apologized to Rock late Monday afternoon, writing on his Instagram account that his behavior was “unacceptable and inexcusable.” Addressing Rock directly, Smith said, “I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.” That apology was the least Smith could do. The gravity of his actions seems to be sinking into his consciousness. But that doesn’t absolve him of having to suffer the consequences. He should not be at the Academy Awards show next year.