I know why Will Smith slapped Chris Rock and I feel moved to defend him, says Piers Morgan

Leave it to comedian Ricky Gervais to have the last laugh in the generally unfunny Will Smith saga.

Will Smith from all Academy events, including the Oscars, for 10 years.Last month, the actor struck Chris Rock on-stage during the Oscars ceremony following a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. Following numerous apologies over the incident, Smith resigned from the Academy and described his actions as “shocking, painful, and inexcusable”.In a new statement, the Academy reflected on Smith’s behaviour, praised Rock’s “composure”, and called for “a time of healing and restoration for all involved and impacted” (per Variety).

Piers Morgan has criticised the Oscars after the prestigious academy announced their decision to ban Will Smith from the awards ceremony for the next ten years after the star slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage.The former Good Morning Britain star, 57, blasted the Hollywood Academy Awards online after they barred the established actor from attending their events despite his resignation earlier this month.As he shared the news of the distinguished company’s decision following the shocking actions at the 94th awards ceremony, the dad-of-four slammed the company for not taking the same stance with convicted sex offender Roman Polanski.The Board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science – which organises the Oscars – revealed their decision after meeting to discuss the possible sanctions against the star almost two weeks after his outburst on stage.This means the King Richard actor has given up his voting rights in addition to his membership to the Academy, as he added he would accept the consequences of his actions.Now, Piers has slammed the decision online as he shared his thoughts with his 7.9million followers on Twitter.He wrote: “BREAKING: Will Smith banned by the Hollywood Academy 12 days after he slapped Chris Rock.“It took the same Academy 40 years to ban Roman Polanski after he was convicted of raping a child.”The star referenced the 88-year-old film director’s decision to flee the US while awaiting his final sentencing after he pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor back in 1978.The director was arrested in Switzerland in 2009 on a warrant for his 1977 crime, where he drugged and raped 13-year-old girl.Piers previously addressed the incident in his latest column in The Sun where he

Oscars and any other event hosted by the Academy for the next ten years.The move comes after the actor slapped comedian Chris Rock, 57, on stage at the 2022 ceremony after he made a jibe about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head following her battle with alopecia.The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air star stormed the stage after Chris made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith - who has alopecia - sporting a buzzcut.Ricky has now taken to Twitter, where he enjoys a following of 14.7 million, to react to the latest development following the incident.Sharing a news article about the Academy’s decision, Ricky wrote: “Hopefully, he'll only do 6 years with good behaviour.”The After Life star's reaction comes as The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its ruling yesterday as it explained its reasoning for the measure.In an open letter to the Academy "family”, David Rubin, President, and Dawn Hudson, CEO, said this year’s Oscars ceremony was “meant to be a celebration of the many individuals who did incredible work this past year”.“However,” they continued, “Those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behaviour we saw Mr Smith exhibit on stage”.They also apologised for being “unprepared for the unprecedented” and issuing a delayed response.“During our telecast, we did not adequately address the situation in the room,” they wrote.“For this, we are sorry.This was an opportunity for us to set an example for our guests, viewers and our Academy family around the world, and we fell short — unprepared for the unprecedented.”Following Ricky’s tweet, social media users were quick to weigh in regarding the controversial scenes.Rustle_Dust_ said: “I'm not sure we should have a culture where people can be

The Mirror reports. Smith had won the Best Actor prize for his leading role in King Richard, taking to the stage to accept it not long after he had slapped Rock, who had joked that he couldn't wait to see Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith in GI Jane 2, referencing how Demi Moore famously shaved her head for the role. Jada had previously spoken of developing alopecia and deciding to shave her hair off after it started to fall out.

Will Smith has been banned by the Academy from the Oscars for the next 10 years after slapping Chris Rock at last month’s ceremony. However, it has been revealed that Smith can still be nominated for the prestigious honour, but would not be able to pick up the award in person – or virtually – if he were to win another Oscar. Smith, who won his first Oscar this year for Best Actor for his performance in King Richard, can still be nominated for future Academy Awards, reports The Washington Post.

Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year," Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President David Rubin and Chief Executive Dawn Hudson said in a statement. "However, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage.

Jada Pinkett Smith's underwhelmed reaction to a surprise birthday party Will Smith planned for three years has divided the internet. As soon as her 37th birthday was over, Will took it upon himself to plan and thrown an extravagant party for her 40th. Things didn't go down as Will expected– in fact, her reaction was not ideal that it made Will hit a "low point.

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Bill Maher used a pointer to illustrate his lecture Friday night on HBO’s Real Time, as he gave a “Zapruder-ized” analysis of the Oscars moment that everyone can’t let go.

Will Smith was banned from attending the Oscars and any other Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences event for the next decade, the academy announced Friday following a meeting to address Smith's slap of Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards last month. Smith slapped Rock after the presenter made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head, referring to the 1997 film "G.I.

Chris Rockhas once again refused to address the controversy surrounding Will Smith slapping him during The Oscars telecast last week.The 57-year-old veteran comedian gave fans the thrill of a lifetime as he dropped in for a surprise stand-up set at New York City's iconic Comedy Cellar on Tuesday night.However, he made sure audience members knew right away he wouldn't be addressing the now notorious moment with the 53-year-old A-list actor despite the warm welcome. Keeping mum: Chris Rock (seen March 15) has once again refused to address the controversy surrounding Will Smith slapping him during The Oscars telecast last weekas he dropped in for a surprise stand-up set at New York City's iconic Comedy Cellar on Tuesday night Making it clear: However, he made sure audience members knew right away he wouldn't be addressing the now notorious moment (pictured) with the 53-year-old A-list actor despite the warm welcomeA source told Page Six that as soon as Chris got on stage he got on the microphone and said: 'Lower your expectations, I'm not going to address that s***.'The star began his Ego Death comedy tour last week and many dates sold out after the slapping incident.

Jada Pinkett Smith showed support for her daughter Willow Smith's latest music as her husband Will Smith found out his Oscars fate from the Academy. On Friday, Pinkett Smith took to her Instagram Stories to plug Willow's music video for her song "Psychofreak" with Camila Cabello. The song is off of Cabello's latest album, "Familia."   "WILLOW x Camila Cabello = psychofreak video out now," text over a photo of Willow and Cabello read along with a link to watch the music video.

JoJo Siwa has dropped out of a film backed by Will Smith amid the controversy surrounding his slap of Chris Rock at The Oscars.The 18-year-old star said that she is no longer attached to the film adaptation of Bounce which is based on the young adult book to Megan Shull.Of the project falling through, JoJo told Variety at the GLAAD Awards on Saturday: 'That project got put on hold, and then went away. It wasn't the one.'Insiders also revealed to the publication that Paramount Pictures has removed the project from its development slate.

attend Academy events for 10 years after he slapped Chris Rock onstage at the 2022 ceremony.Responding to the ban, 50 Cent tweeted: ‘Got Damn they doing Will dirty, This is too harsh so he cant come back till he 63 years old. And the law suit ain’t even hit yet.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Board of Governors met this morning to discuss potential consequences for Will Smith after he slapped Chris Rock on the Oscars stage last month. They voted to ban Smith from all Academy events, including the Oscars, for the next 10 years.

the academy finally levied disciplinary action against the 53-year-old actor, who interrupted last month’s Oscars ceremony to slap presenter Chris Rock in the face during their live telecast over a joke the comedian made about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The “King Richard” actor, who later that night took home the Best Actor award for his role in the film, is now banished from all academy events for a period of 10 years, the organization said in a statement.Smith has now responded to their decision: “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision,” he said, according to CNN journalist Brian Stelter, who shared the comment on Twitter.The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors has “decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr.

It comes after the Oscar-winning actor stormed the stage at the 2022 Oscars to strike comedian Chris Rock after he made a joke at Jada’s expense.Referring to her alopecia, which causes hair loss, he joked: “I love you Jada.

violently assaulting comedian Chris Rock onstage in front of millions of viewers after Rock made a crack about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, the 53-year-old actor was banned from the next 10 years of Academy Awards ceremonies.We should all be so lucky!Smith, who treated a glamorous primetime telecast like 2 a.m. at a roadside bar in Wichita, egregiously gets to keep the shiny Best Actor statuette he won for “King Richard,” now surely nestled on the shelf next to his 10 hard-won Kids’ Choice Awards. No criminal charges have been filed against the actor for storming up to another man, slapping him so hard it made a noise in a 3,400-seat theater and then yelling, “Get my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth!” on live TV.And, if its current inaction is any indication, the FCC will let him be.Imagine how difficult this situation must be for this poor A-lister.

Immediately after the Academy of Motion Pictures’ decision to ban Will Smith from attending the Oscars and all Academy events for the next ten years, the actor has come forward with his thoughts.

Will Smith, 53, issued a short and simple statement following the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ decision to ban him from all Academy-related events (including the Oscars) for the next 10 years, because he ran onstage and slapped Chris Rock, 57, during the 2022 Academy Awards. “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision,” he said in a very short statement on Friday April 8 to Page Six.