LOS ANGELES — Five days after sending a shock wave through Hollywood by striking presenter Chris Rock on live television, Oscar winner Will Smith has resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The resignation letter, obtained by the Los Angeles Times on Friday, apologizes not only to Rock but to other Academy Award nominees and winners.
“The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home,” the statement read. “I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken.”
Academy President David Rubin confirmed that Smith’s resignation had been received and accepted. An April 18 board meeting will next assess what further disciplinary actions will be taken regarding their new best actor winner.
Smith’s exit from the organization comes amid a mounting firestorm over the shocking “slap heard ‘round the world,” which occurred when the then-heavily favored best actor nominee strode onstage and hit Rock in the face after the comedian made a joke about his wife, actor Jada Pinkett Smith.
Further enflaming the controversy is how and why Smith was allowed to remain in the Dolby Theatre following the attack.
Less than an hour after slapping Rock, he won his first career Oscar for his portrayal of Richard Williams, father of tennis champions Serena and Venus Williams, in the biographical drama “King Richard.” After delivering a tearful six-minute speech, Smith was seen partying into the night with his family and singing along to his own hit songs at the Vanity Fair fete, Oscar in hand.
In the aftermath, both the incident and how it was handled by Academy leadership and the telecast’s producers drew outrage from the public and the organization’s own members. Conflicting narratives over whether Smith had been asked to leave the awards following the on-air assault only muddied the situation, turning up the heat on the decision makers behind the scenes.
On Thursday, Oscars producer Will Packer told “Good Morning America” that LAPD officers were prepared Sunday night to arrest Smith if Rock decided to press charges. According to Packer, Rock declined.
The comedian has yet to fully comment on the attack, but alluded to it this week at a comedy show in Boston where he received a standing ovation and told the crowd, “I’m still kind of processing what happened.”
The extent to which the incident disrupted the 94th Academy Awards and damaged its reputation continues to unfold.
Oscars co-host Wanda Sykes was among those who criticized the Academy for not taking stronger action Sunday night, calling the decision to allow Smith to remain in his seat for the remainder of the show “gross” and “the wrong message.”
Filmmaker Joseph Patel, producer of documentary winner “Summer of Soul,” slammed both Smith and Rock — who mischaracterized the Indian American filmmaker as one of “four white guys” as he awarded the category seconds after the attack — for ruining what should have been a celebratory night for other artists.
Smith has now issued three separate public apologies for his actions Sunday night, the first of which, made tearfully onstage at the Oscars, included the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences but conspicuously not Rock.
The following day he released a written apology to Rock, the Oscars producers and fellow attendees, the Williams family and “my ‘King Richard’ family” stating that “violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable.”
The motion picture academy announced Wednesday that they were initiating disciplinary proceedings against the actor with possible expulsion, suspension or other sanctions to be determined.
Friday afternoon, Smith took the step of resigning his membership, calling his actions “shocking, painful and inexcusable.”
The move reeks of crisis PR spin, some industry watchers noted. “Resigning allows (Smith) to avoid ‘AMPAS Expels Will Smith’ headlines ... but he’s nowhere near out of the woods yet,” tweeted Variety’s Andrew Wallenstein.
But with Smith’s resignation, others noted, the Academy can at least attempt to move forward from the debacle.
“This is the right thing to do,” tweeted journalist Mark Harris, “and will allow the Academy to turn to the important work of figuring out how it screwed up everything else so thoroughly.”
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