The Academy saw one of its most shocking days nearly a year ago when Will Smith walked onto the stage at the 2022 Oscars and slapped comedian Chris Rock. Just over a month before the next awards show, the Academy has admitted to not acting fast enough on the incident.
Via Variety, Janet Yang spoke to a star-studded section of the Academy members at the 2023 nominees luncheon about last year’s incident, with her not mentioning anyone by name. She spoke of it as a learning experience, and they were certain they should’ve done more — describing the response as inadequate and lacking transparency.
Yang believes they have learned from the altercation and said they will now act “swiftly, compassionately, and decisively”, although it’s hard to read whether this means they feel the penalties applied to Smith were too lenient or too harsh.
“I’m sure you all remember we experienced an unprecedented event at the Oscars. 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.”
There’s already been some controversy with the 2023 ceremony, although not to the same level as physical assault. Best Actress nominee Andrea Riseborough came under fire for potentially lobbying to get her performance in To Leslie nominated, with her and director Michael Morris knee-deep in the murk. The Academy cleared her and the director of any wrongdoing but said it’d use the incident as a learning point.
The 2023 Oscars will be held on March 12 in Hollywood.
Published: Feb 13, 2023 06:53 pm