Amid standing ovations, Smith tearfully described his actions as those of a man trying to protect his family from abuse – Rock had referred to his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, as bald, although I had recently made her diagnosis public. Behind the scenes, Rock said “well” and refused to address the issue. The Academy apparently asked Smith to leave the amphitheater, but seemed pleased with his refusal. Shortly after his speech, Smith was on the track at the Vanity Fair party, surrounded by well-wishers, with a statuette held to his chest. Everything seemed – if not forgotten – then he was well on his way to being forgiven. However, a week is a long time in showbusiness and six days later, Smith’s position seems much more volatile. As soon as the slap was broadcast on television, the famous viewers hurried to accuse the actor. Mark Hamill and Rob Reiner were disgusted. Jim Carrey and Judd Apatow were among those who suggested that Smith should have been arrested. Politicians including Keir Starmer echoed the outrage. Two days later, the verdicts of those who were in the room at the time of the incident began to be filtered and were even more stingy. Joseph Patel, producer of the Oscar-winning documentary Summer of Soul, said Smith was “selfish” and “stole” him and his filmmakers at the time of their glory. Pedro Almodóvar, sitting near the stage, said that the stage “caused a feeling of utter rejection in me”. At the Vanity Fair Oscars… Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, Will Smith, Jaden Smith and Trey Smith. Photo: Matt Baron / Rex / Shutterstock The Academy, which was under fire for inaction, started working. The previously announced investigation was upgraded to disciplinary prosecution. Two of the three hosts of the night said they were “injured”. “I’m still fired,” said Amy Sumer, while Wanda Sykes said the scene was “absolutely disgusting; I’m physically ill.” On Friday, Oscar-winning producer Will Packer tried to divert criticism further by telling Good Morning America that Los Angeles police had immediately described the attack as a “battery” and offered to arrest Smith. It was just the victim’s decision, Packer said, which meant it did not happen. “Chris was very reluctant about these choices,” he said. “He said, ‘No, I’m fine.’ It was like, “No, no, no.” Rock’s conciliatory disposition was also credited to Packer as the reason why Smith was not expelled from the amphitheater by the Academy leadership. “I said, ‘Chris Rock does not want that. “I said, ‘Rock has made it clear that he does not want to make things worse.’ Some players said they were disappointed with Chris Rock’s failure to discuss the slap in his routine However, some sources say that Packer did not ask Rock for his opinion about Smith being expelled from the amphitheater, only for the possibility of Smith being arrested by the police. Ticket prices for the dates on Rock’s current comedy tour have skyrocketed, but some players at shows earlier in the week said they were disappointed by Rock’s failure to discuss the slap in his routine. Ever since he publicly apologized for “reacting emotionally” Monday, Smith has also remained silent on the incident as his team recalibrates its response. A number of options seem possible. Smith could appear in a chatshow to discuss the incident, as Sykes and Packer did – although this risks being seen as reducing the severity of the incident. The actress is more likely to agree in a larger interview to be done by someone like Oprah Winfrey. As his acceptance speech showed, much of Smith’s defense is based on his claim to high emotional stakes and personal history. The narrative he has created is of a flawed man, accustomed to the relentless spotlight, who eventually cracks under pressure when someone insults his family. This is reinforced by sections in his highly personal memoir, Will, published last fall, which describe the domestic violence he saw his father inflict on his mother and his own feelings of guilt that he did not intervene. “What you understood as ‘Will Smith,’ the exterminator MC, the greatest living movie star, is largely a construction,” he wrote, “a carefully crafted and sophisticated character designed to protect myself. To hide from the world. To hide the cowardice “. In a park in Berlin… a mural of the slap of the artist Jesus Cruz Artiles, also known as Eme Freethinker. Photo: Clemens Bilan / EPA In addition to being the highest profile and most lucrative, an hour-long television specialty in the style of Winfrey audience with Prince Harry and Megan would allow this background to be further explained. Another route would be for Smith to produce such a show himself. His memoirs were published alongside a series on YouTube, The Best Shape of My Life, recording his 20kg weight loss alongside a psychological development program. The actor and his family are no strangers to the confessional broadcast. Pinkett Smith’s popular Facebook show, Red Table Talk, hosted by her mother, “Gammy” and her daughter, Willow, has dealt with issues such as mourning, sexual intimacy and digestive health. Will Smith starred in an episode in July 2020 about infidelity to discuss rumors about the couple’s extramarital affair and their brief separation, four years ago. All the Smiths, including Jada and Will’s son Jaden, and Will’s son Trey from a previous relationship, appeared as themselves on TV shows just a step away from the reality shows spread by families like the Kardashians. The respect with which Smith is held by the public could prove difficult to shake. A YouGov poll of 1,319 adults in the United States earlier in the week found that only a small majority thought they had made a mistake by slapping Rock. It also remains in Hollywood’s interest for Smith to regain the favor he owed his 30 years as a leader. The films starring him have grossed nearly $ 6.5 billion (£ 5 billion) at the global box office and have been unusually wide-ranging, covering genders, demographics, nationalities and ethnicities. One area of support for the actor last week was the Christian press in the US, who was impressed by reports in his speech that he was “a boat” led by a “superior force”. Smith’s account of Denzel Washington’s advice to “be careful in your highest moment – that’s when the devil comes in for you” was hailed by the Christian Broadcast News (CBN) as “certain graphics”. Washington’s loyalty journey is warmly followed by such stores in the USA. The CBN praised his “encouraging comments and focused on the devil’s efforts to destroy humans.” The results of the Academy’s research will be announced in about three weeks, but it seems unlikely that Smith will withdraw his award. Whoopi Goldberg, a member of the Academy’s board, said Monday: “We are not going to take this Oscar from him” and even the Oscars won by the expelled members have not been revoked. Only a handful of Academy members have been expelled, mostly as a result of sexual assault convictions, including Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski and Bill Cosby (all of whom were convicted of sexual assault last year). Another complicating factor is that Smith’s next film, Emancipation, was considered a major player at the 2023 Academy Awards. Based on a true story, Smith starred as a runaway slave in 1863, whose whipping photos helped greatly. the case of the proponents of abolition. The film was bought by Apple TV for $ 120 million in 2020 at a virtual market in Cannes, setting a record for acquisitions at film festivals. Apple scored its first win in the best image on Sunday, with Coda. The distributor will estimate that Smith will be welcomed back to the barn in time for promotional assignments for this film, either through his own efforts or due to the audience’s fatigue with the slap-gate. On Thursday, actor Daniel Radcliffe appeared to be talking to many when asked for his opinion on the Good Morning Britain incident. “I saw it,” he told Susanna Reid. “I’m already so bored listening to people’s opinions about it that I just do not want to add another opinion to it.”
