After what seemed like a scripted moment at the Oscars turned out to be an actual altercation that immediately overshadowed the rest of the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has issued a statement addressing Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the ceremony. In theory, the short tweet chastises Smith for his actions, but the statement also focuses attention upon the winners who may have missed out on Oscar glory over the now-viral attack.
“The Academy does not condone violence of any form,” the official Academy Twitter account wrote roughly two hours after the broadcast. “Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”
The Academy does not condone violence of any form.
Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 28, 2022
According to Deadline, the Academy may have more work to do beyond a tweet. While Rock may have declined to press charges at least one member (Marshall Herskovitz, producer of The Last Samauri) is calling for disciplinary action against Smith. That position is shared by many social media users, who noted that the Academy still allowed Smith to give an emotional speech after winning the award for Best Actor for his performance in King Richard.
You can see some of the reactions below:
You watched and broadcast a live assault to millions of people around the world, then awarded a man who committed said assault immediately afterwards without removing him from the building or having him arrested for the crime.
That's the definition of condoning the violence.
— NEW GAMES HAVE RETURNED!!! (@TheyCallMeDSP) March 28, 2022
You demonstrably do condone it!
— Scott Tobias (@scott_tobias) March 28, 2022
Seems like you do, actually. Because you took no action
— Ariel Shavonne (@mermaidgal24) March 28, 2022
You gave an assault perpetrator five uninterrupted minutes on a global platform to excuse his behaviour.
You don’t just condone violence. You endorse and amplify it!
— Mark Kearney (@mnkearney) March 28, 2022
The crime happened hours ago. You did nothing then handed the criminal a trophy. Delete your ceremony.
— Matt Walton (@themattwalton) March 28, 2022
That’s so weird because there’s this picture here of you condoning violence pic.twitter.com/VfRJv9kNBD
— Josh Bradley (@theSloopJoshB) March 28, 2022
(Via Deadline)
