The furore surrounding the Will Smith Oscars slapping incident has escalated further as the star now faces being stripped of his Academy Award.
The 53-year-old apologised to Chris Rock via his Instagram earlier, just hours after the Academy announced it was launching an investigation into the incident.
What did Will Smith do at the Oscars?
Sunday night’s (27 March) Oscars ceremony took a turn for the worst when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage.
The legendary actor took to the stage to smack the comedian after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife.
Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia – a condition that causes hair loss. In 2021, the actress shaved her hair.
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Making a joke about Jada as he was hosting, Rock said: “Jada can’t wait for GI Jane 2.”
As Jada rolled her eyes, Smith walked on stage and slapped Rock across the face.
He then returned to his seat before shouting twice: “Keep my wife’s name out of your [bleeping] mouth!”
Shortly afterward, Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor. He apologised to the audience and the Academy during his acceptance speech, but not to Rock.
Will Smith apologises for Oscars incident
In the early hours of this morning, Smith finally apologised to Rock for slapping him.
The star posted a lengthy apology on his Instagram, explaining to his 61.7 million followers why he lost his cool.
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive,” he wrote. “My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable.”
He continued, writing: “Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.”
“I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris,” he said. ” I was out of line and I was wrong.”
He continued, saying: “I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
Smith apologises to the Academy
As well as apologising to Rock, Smith took the opportunity to apologise to the Academy too.
“I would also like to apologise to the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees and everyone watching around the world,” he said.
“I would like to apologise to the Williams Family and my King Richard Family.”
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He then wrote: “I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us.”
Smith’s apology came just hours after the Academy announced it was going to be launching a formal review of the incident.
They said: “The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night’s show. We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law.”
According to reports, there is every possibility that Smith could have his Oscar stripped from him, as well as be banned for life or temporarily suspended from the Academy.
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