Zack Sharf Janet Yang, the current president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), admitted at the start of the 2023 Oscars Nominees Luncheon that the organization did not properly handle the fallout over Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony. “I’m sure you all remember we experienced an unprecedented event at the Oscars,” Yang told attendees, which included the likes of Tom Cruise. “What happened onstage was fully unacceptable and the response from our organization was inadequate.
We learned from this that the Academy must be fully transparent and accountable in our actions, and particularly in times of crisis you must act swiftly, compassionately and decisively for ourselves and for our industry.
You should and can expect no less form us going forward.” Smith took to the stage during the 2022 Oscars and slapped Rock across the face while the latter was presenting the best documentary feature category.
Rock cracked a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s bald head. After the slap, Smith returned to his seat and repeatedly screamed at Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth!” The ceremony continued with Smith remaining in attendance as he won the best actor Oscar for his performance in “King Richard.” The 2022 Oscars aired at the end of March.
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