Anna Good
Oscar-winner Will Smith was banned from the Oscars for ten years after slapping Chris Rock on stage on March 28 for joking about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head due to hair loss.
The biggest criticism coming from the events of this year’s Oscars, however, is the lack of action by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences against previous Oscar winners and nominees who have been allowed to attend in spite of allegations and even convictions for crimes committed by those members.
According to a statement issued by the Academy, “The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards.”
Smith was not asked to return his Oscar for Best Actor.
Many people, however, are calling out the Academy for acting so swiftly against Will Smith when they have taken much longer, if at all, to enact punishment for Oscar winners such as Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski.
Polanski wasn’t banned from the Oscars until after he had won the Academy Award for Best Director in 2003 for The Pianist.
This was 26 years after he was originally arrested and charged with six offenses against a 13-year-old girl. The charges included unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and rape by use of drugs.
Harvey Weinstein, meanwhile, was sentenced to 23 years in prison in New York state after he was found guilty of a first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape. In addition, he has been accused by dozens of women of sexual assault.
Neither Polanski nor Weinstein have had their Oscars taken away from them.
Many on Twitter called out the Academy for their inequitable and seemingly-arbitrary reaction to Smith’s actions.
One Twitter user wrote, “Just a reminder that Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski never had their Oscars rescinded, John Wayne was never expelled, and the Academy never apologized to Hattie McDaniel. Just in case anyone was looking at the Academy as some moral beacon.”
Many pointed out that Polanski fled the United States after he was convicted of raping a minor, and the Academy still awarded him with an Oscar for Best Director.
If you are a victim of sexual assault or want more information on sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).