The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Wednesday that it asked Will Smith to walk out of Sunday’s Oscars ceremony after punching Chris Rock but the actor refused to do so.
The academy’s board of governors met Wednesday to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Smith for violations of the group’s standards of conduct. The academy said disciplinary action for Smith could include suspension, expulsion or other sanctions.
Many have focused on why Smith was allowed to sit ringside in the Dolby Theater after the incident. On Wednesday, the academy hinted that it tried to remove the actor from the public.
“Things happened in a way that we could not have anticipated,” the Academy said. “While we would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to withdraw from the ceremony and refused, we also recognize that we could have handled the situation differently.”
An academy representative declined to elaborate on how they attempted to remove Smith. After the actor slammed Rock for a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, several actors including Denzel Washington, Bradley Cooper and Tyler Perry spoke with the 53-year-old Smith.
The academy said Smith has a chance to defend himself in a written response before the board of governors meets again on April 18. The academy had previously condemned Smith’s onstage attack on Rock, but used stronger language Wednesday.
“Mr. Smith’s actions at the 94th Academy Awards are deeply disturbing, a traumatic event to witness in person and on television,” the academy said. “Mr. Rock, we apologize to you for what he experienced on our stage and we thank you for your strength at that time. We also apologize to our nominees, guests, and viewers for what happened at what was meant to be a celebratory event.”
On Monday, Smith posted an apology to Rock, the academy and viewers, saying “I was out of line and wrong.”
A representative for Smith did not respond to messages Wednesday regarding the latest statement from the academy.
Only a small number of academy members have been expelled, including sexual abuse defendants Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski and Bill Cosby, as well as actor Carmine Caridi, who was expelled for sharing files to watch nominated films.
Whoopi Goldberg, a member of the board of governors, said on “The View” on Monday, “We are not going to take the Oscar away from him,” but added: “Nobody agrees with what happened.” The academy has not asked for the return of Oscars from members who have previously been expelled.
Rock, who has yet to publicly respond to the incident, is scheduled to perform in a stand-up show Wednesday night in Boston.
Others who participated in Sunday’s ceremony began to speak about what happened. Co-host Wanda Sykes told Ellen DeGeneres in an interview airing April 7 that she felt physically sick after Smith slapped Rock. Returning to her seat, Smith yelled at Rock, “Get my wife’s name out of your (expletive) mouth!”
“I’m still a little traumatized,” Sykes said in a video posted Wednesday.
An hour later Smith was back on stage accepting the best actor award for his role in “King Richard” (“King Richard: A Winning Family”). Many in the Dolby Theater gave him a standing ovation.
“I thought how disgusting this is. This is the wrong message. You attack someone and they take you out of the building and that’s it. But to let it continue, I found it disgusting,” Sykes said. “I wanted to be able to run out (onstage) after he won and say ‘unfortunately Will couldn’t be here tonight.'”
