Academy President Issues Statement on Will Smith Resigning After Oscars Slap

The altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards has continued to dominate the cultural conversation, as viewers debated at length about the shocking and unscripted moment. The moment, which culminated in Smith walking onstage and slapping Rock in the face, occurred after Rock made a joke about the haircut of Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, which is a result of her years-long battle with the autoimmune disease alopecia. On Friday night, that culminated with the news that Smith has elected to resign from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, of which he has been a member since 2001. AMPAS president David Rubin confirmed and addressed Smith's resignation in a statement on Friday, before adding that the organization is moving forward with their own "disciplinary proceedings" for Smith.

"We have received and accepted Mr. Will Smith's immediate resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences," the statement reads. "We will continue to move forward with our disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Smith for violations of the Academy's Standards of Conduct, in advance of our next scheduled board meeting on April 18th."

According to a report from Deadline, Smith was reportedly told by the AMPAS that the repercussions could include being "expelled for a decade or more." Across the week, it had been reported that Academy leaders met with Smith via Zoom to discuss the fallout, and that the actor had "expressed his awareness" of the repercussions to the incident. According to a new interview with Oscars producer Will Packer, Smith was not removed from the ceremony after Rock made it clear that he didn't "want to make a bad situation worse." Smith won the Best Actor award later that night for his performance in King Richard.

"I have directly responded to the Academy's disciplinary hearing notice, and I will fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct," Smith's statement confirming his resignation reads. "My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful, and inexcusable. The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home. I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken. I want to put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film. So, I am resigning from membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and will accept any further consequences the Board deems appropriate. Change takes time and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason."