Dueling narratives have emerged about whether Will Smith really “refused” to leave the Oscars after slapping Chris Rock.
On Wednesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said in a statement that Smith “was asked to leave the ceremony” before his category. However, sources close to the situation refute that a formal request was ever made to the Best Actor winner, according to Variety and TMZ.
A person “familiar with the Academy” tells Variety “that Smith was asked to leave through an on-site representative. That call was made by Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson, who, a source says, asked for Smith to leave the show instead of remaining in the auditorium for the rest of the telecast.” Sources give conflicting accounts to the outlet as to whether show producer, Will Packer, was the one who allowed Smith to stay.
TMZ reports something similar, noting there were “heated conversation” backstage with Smith’s reps about the assault, but there was “a split among the officials” about whether the actor should be kicked out. They purportedly never reached a consensus, and as everyone knows, Smith stayed and went on to win the coveted award for his performance in King Richard.
Yahoo Entertainment reached out to reps for Smith and AMPAS, but did not receive responses.
The Academy has been slammed for allowing Smith to stay and its latest statement didn’t ease critics. Wanda Sykes, who co-hosted the Oscars with Amy Schumer and Regina Hall, gave one of the strongest rebukes yet, just hours before the organization claimed the actor was asked, but “refused” to leave.
“It was sickening. It was absolutely — I physically felt ill and I’m still a little traumatized by it,” Sykes said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
“And for [the Academy] to let him stay in that room and enjoy the rest of the show and accept his award, I was like how gross is this? This is just the wrong message. You assault somebody, you get escorted out the building,” Sykes added. “For them to let him continue, I thought it was gross.”
It’s unclear yet what punishment Smith will face, but “suspension” and “expulsion” are on the table.
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