Will Smith’s Fallout Regarding His Actions at the 2022 Oscars

By now, you know of the events surrounding the Will Smith/Chris Rock incident at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony. The world still seems split on how to deal with what happened, especially when shortly after the ceremony Chris Rock decided not to pursue a charge of assault. Here’s the main course of action taken by the relevant parties.

The first response from Smith (other than a profuse apology) was to resign from being a part of the Academy. No longer being part of the in-group of the top names of the film industry basically just means no longer voting, but all other associations he could have would still be allowable.

The main news point is the official decision by the Academy to bar Smith from attending the Oscars ceremonies for the next ten years. With this is certainly a heavier judgment, Smith in theory is still eligible for a nomination and even a win of a future Oscar, he just will not be able to accept his award in person.

Many film industry members, especially actors and close friends of Chris Rock, have publicly expressed their disbelief at Smith’s actions. Some have called for his 2022 Oscar to be rescinded, though that is less of a publicly shared belief and more passed around on the anonymity of the Internet. Others focused on the problem of Rock’s offensive joke that incited the confrontation, and others tried to shift the focus to the failures of the producers of the Awards show.

That seems to be all that has come about officially, but an endless slew of commentary comes in from around the world on the incident, some takes being more subtle than others. In a particularly classless move, Academy members could anonymously comment on the matter, and their responses are the antithesis of nuance. You can watch the ceremony on Hulu if you so desire.