The moment of Will Smith's blow to Chris Rock. BRIAN SNYDER (REUTERS)
The Hollywood Film Academy revealed Wednesday afternoon that it asked Will Smith to leave the Dolby Theater after he punched comedian Chris Rock on the Oscars stage in front of millions of people.
The organization does not specify who or how he made the request to the actor, but he refused to leave his seat.
Minutes later he tearfully collected the first statuette of his career before an audience divided between stupefaction and a standing ovation.
Three days later, the organization begins to shake off the shock caused by an episode that has shattered the foundations of the Los Angeles industry and has started the investigation process for the conduct of the interpreter of
The Williams Method
.
"We recognize that we would have liked to handle the situation differently," said the powerful body of professionals that runs the academy and that met this Wednesday to discuss the crisis in a statement.
The punishment against Smith will be known, tentatively, on April 18, the date on which the more than 50 governors will meet again to analyze the episode caused by a joke at the expense of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
The aggressor, who gave the longest speech of the night and left questioning whether he would be invited again, has 15 days to present a written defense.
"The academy may take disciplinary actions that include suspension, expulsion or others contemplated in the standards of conduct," the document states.
The governors, the voice of almost 10,000 professionals grouped in different unions, have hardened their tone after keeping silent since Sunday night, where they limited themselves to responding to the altercation with a brief line in which they disapproved of violence.
Smith's performance was deeply surprising, a traumatic event to witness in person or on television.
The episode, he claims, compromises the "integrity" of the academy.
Wanda Sykes, one of the three in charge of conducting the ceremony on Saturday, has confessed this morning on the Ellen DeGeneres show that Smith's shouting at Rock, who told him "keep my wife's name out of your fucking mouth", they made her feel physically ill.
"I'm still a little traumatized by it," she confessed to the popular presenter.
Sykes missed the moment of the hit because she was in a costume change, but she criticized Smith for remaining in the room.
“I thought, how serious is this.
It sends the wrong message,” she assured.
At an after party, it was Rock who apologized to her.
"This must have been his night," said the comedian, who knew that this moment would be the most remembered of the evening.
Amy Schumer, another of the presenters, published her opinion about what happened for only a few minutes.
“I am still shocked, stunned and I am still hoping this depressing feeling from what we saw will go away,” the comedian wrote on Instagram in a message that she deleted shortly after.
The comedian, who just premiered a new production on Hulu, said she was proud of the job the hosts had done.
"I think the best way to digest what happened is to watch my series," Schumer joked.
The presenters returned this year to the Oscar, which had not had a host since 2019.
Will Smith did not apologize to Rock on the night of his triumph, when the cameras captured him laughing and dancing at the
Vanity Fair
magazine party .
On Tuesday, the actor took to social media to apologize.
"My behavior was unacceptable and indefensible," he said.
The academy dedicated a few words to the comedian, who presented the gala in 2016 and spent a few minutes on Sunday to award a category: "We apologize for what he experienced on our stage and we thank him for his resilience at that time."
Apologies are also offered to viewers for a night that should have had a celebratory spirit.
Today's text follows a letter sent Tuesday night by academy president David Rubin to all members.
It was the first explicit condemnation of the Smith slap and the promise of "appropriate action" once the term expires.
If he is expelled, he will be the first to leave Hollywood's top organization since Harvey Weinstein.