Hollywood Hits “Rock” Bottom–
As Cassandra Fairbanks reported earlier — Will Smith rushed the Oscar stage and smacked comedian Chris Rock in the face for making a joke about his wife’s hair.
Smith then went back and sat down and screamed profanities at Rock on the stage.
Here’s the video again.
This was an assault caught on national TV.
The Academy of Motion Pictures announced Wednesday they will take appropriate action against Will Smith for assaulting this year’s host Chris Rock on stage during the ceremony and then screaming f-bombs at Rock from his seat in the front row. Such a class act.
We all know already the Academy will not have the guts to condemn Smith’s vicious assault.
NBC News reported:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will determine “appropriate action” against Will Smith after he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars, the group told its members in a letter obtained by NBC News.
In the letter, film academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said the leaders of the nonprofit organization were “upset and outraged” that this year’s celebration of achievement in the film industry was “overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior on stage by a nominee.”
“The Academy’s Board of Governors will now make a determination on appropriate action for Mr. Smith,” they said, adding that the process “will take a few weeks.”
“We will continue to update you on any developments, but we also ask that you respect your Board, Academy staff and the process as this unfolds so it can work in the considered way it was intended and mandated,” they added.
Meanwhile, US comedy clubs are reassessing security measures following Smith’s violent assault on Chris Rock on the Oscar stage.
When Curtis Shaw Flagg, president of The Laugh Factory Chicago, witnessed Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, a sinking sense of déjà vu set in.
“We’ve had more instances lately of audience members trying to charge the stage,” says Flagg…
…As the industry reels over Smith’s attack — drawing stinging and angry rebukes from A-list comics like Kathy Griffin (who tweeted, “Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters”) and Joe Rogan (who said on his podcast that it “sets a terrible precedent for comedy clubs”) — the live-comedy gatekeepers are reevaluating security protocol while bracing for whatever comes next.
Smith’s reaction is indicative of an overall mood shift in the standup-comedy world, says Laugh Factory owner and CEO Jamie Masada. Masada has noticed an atmospheric change inside his clubs since they reopened to the public, first to limited capacity in March 2021 and then to full capacity about six months ago. Audiences, he says, are on edge.