The Hollywood Academy has released a statement: "We will explore further actions and consequences in accordance with our statutes, standards of conduct and California law"
A few hours after the resounding slap, which did not destroy the smile of a stoic (and completely out of place) Chris Rock but the 2022 Oscar gala, in Esquire we wondered if the Academy should not take the award away from Will Smith. Well, before 24 hours of the incident that everyone is talking about, they issued a statement, collected by The New York Times, which suggests that at least they may be thinking about it.
And it is that, while apparently it seemed that the actor had already forgotten the matter (Will Smith had a great time dancing with his Oscar at the Vanity Fair party), at the Academy they were preparing a statement implying that this might not end without official punishment. In the announcement, he states that a formal investigation of the matter has been opened, to assess the consequences that this could have for Will Smith.
In it, after noting that "the Academy condemns Mr. Smith's actions at last night's ceremony", it concludes that the actor could be sanctioned if it is found that he has violated the rules of the Academy and even the laws of the State of California. : «We have officially begun a formal review of the incident and will explore further actions and consequences in accordance with our statutes, rules of conduct and California law»We do not know what type of sanctions the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences could adopt or when he will publish the resolution of his investigation, but beyond his decision, the actor is already having to face an avalanche of negative reactions to his punch against Chris Rock on social networks.
Time will tell where all this ends up, but the truth is that, regardless of the possible consequences, for almost everyone Will Smith won an Oscar the same night that he lost a reputation of several decades.