Even days after the 94th Oscars, Will Smith’s onstage physical assault on Chris Rock over a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head remains to many surreal — but the headache it poses for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is very real.
With the general public and Academy members alike clamoring for the Academy to take action beyond saying that it does not “condone violence,” as it did in an initial statement March 28, the officers of the organization’s board of governors had an emergency meeting a day later, after which they released a statement saying: “The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith” and has “started a formal review around the incident.” Shortly thereafter, the full board was asked to convene March 30.
The Hollywood Reporter began seeking the views of governors immediately after the Oscars ceremony ended, when the Governors Ball began. Documentary branch governor Roger Ross Williams — who is Black and who infamously experienced someone, an estranged producer, aggressively entering his personal space on the Oscars stage in 2010 as he accepted the best documentary short prize — said: “I’m really upset. I was in tears after what happened. It reinforces stereotypes about Black people, and it just hurts me because this is what some people want to see. Work it out someplace else, not on the stage.”
The day after the Oscars, producers branch governor Lynette Howell Taylor, who co-produced the ceremony in 2020, said, “I woke up so bummed this morning. I was like, ‘Oh, God, did that all really happen?’ ” She continued, “Everyone’s going to have to assess the situation. You know, it’s not going to end today. Everyone’s going to collect themselves, and it’s going to go through an official process.”
Rank-and-file members have their own views about what should have happened that night and what should happen moving forward.
Sid Ganis, a former Academy president, said he feels it is not the board’s place to sanction Smith. “I think those are two men who had a real disagreement and it’s up to them, not to the Academy, not to any of us,” he argued.
But actors branch member Rutanya Alda disagreed. “I think security should have escorted him out immediately instead of letting him sit there spewing unacceptable language at Chris Rock,” she asserted. “Someone else should have accepted his award. Why did he get a pass? Is the Academy frightened of celebrities? He came off as a guy with no class and made me wish I hadn’t voted for him. It changed the whole tone of the evening. I will never, ever vote for anything Will Smith is in again. He set such an awful example for people watching, and he degraded the Academy.”
Added a sound branch member: “No matter how one feels about the joke Chris Rock told, or Will Smith’s right to ‘defend his wife,’ it was a violent assault on national television and should not go unpunished. When a comedian or really anyone says something you don’t like, it’s not OK to hit them.”
What might the Academy do to Smith? Numerous members with whom THR spoke felt that the organization should at the very least suspend his membership, citing the Standards of Conduct that the Academy implemented eight weeks after Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misdeeds were exposed. And almost none felt he should be back at the ceremony next year to carry out the ceremonial tradition whereby the previous year’s best actor presents the best actress award.
One thing that some in the public have called for is the revocation of Smith’s best actor Oscar, but that almost certainly will not happen, given that even Weinstein and Roman Polanski have not had theirs rescinded. (This is not least because the Academy has no mechanism to actually repossess an Oscar.) Says a former Academy officer: “You can’t take the Oscar away. That’s not fair. But do you drop his membership? Maybe. Do you tell him he can’t present on next year’s show? Maybe. Does he care whether or not he’s presenting on the show? I doubt it.”
Smith seemed to care in his acceptance speech when he said, chuckling through tears, that he hopes the Academy will invite him back. Only time will tell.
Fallout for Smith could go beyond the Academy. In January, Candle Media — the entertainment holding company led by former Disney execs Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer and backed by private equity giant Blackstone — acquired a 10 percent minority stake in Westbrook Inc., the production company controlled by the Smiths.
The deal, which valued Westbrook at $600 million, according to a knowledgeable source, was predicated in part on Will Smith’s stardom, with Westbrook securing a piece of every project the couple appears in (from Red Table Talk to King Richard), in addition to projects in which they aren’t featured, like Cobra Kai and Bel Air.
With seemingly everyone in Hollywood eager to work with the Smiths on TV or film projects, Westbrook’s future seemed like a sure bet, at least until Oscars night. Mayer, speaking at CES shortly after announcing the Westbrook deal, had said that Candle’s “thesis” is built around the belief that “high quality content with high-quality creators at the right brands create great connections in social media with large audiences.”
The uncertainty around Smith is all but certain to spill over to the production company. With the $60 million in cash presumably in hand, whether the investment terms include a morals clause that could give Candle an exit from the deal remains unclear. (Because one private company, Candle, was investing in another company, Westbrook, there’s a good chance there isn’t one.) Blackstone declined comment.
Alex Weprin contributed reporting.
This story first appeared in the March 30 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
Source: Hollywood
