Since the "Oscars slap", actor Will Smith has been condemned by the Academy, which will be conducting a formal investigation and disciplinary process regarding the assault later this month. In response to the disciplinary hearing notice, Smith announced Friday he would be resigning from the Academy for his actions, but what exactly does it mean when an actor resigns?
For starters, Smith will get to keep his Oscar for Best Actor. He will also still be invited to future Academy Award ceremonies, as well as being eligible for a future nomination by the Academy. What it does mean is that Smith will no longer be a "voting" member of the Academy.
In a statement to NBC News, David Rubin, the president of the Academy, confirmed that members had received and accepted Smith's resignation.
Will Smith, right, hits presenter Chris Rock on stage while presenting the award for best documentary feature at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
© AP Photo / Chris Pizzello
The 52-year-old actor won an Oscar for his performance in "King Richard", but the attention on Sunday night had already been stolen by the slapping incident that came after comedian Chris Rock made a joke in light of Pinkett Smith's hair loss.
Rock's "G.I. Jane" joke was in reference to the 1997 movie in which actress Demi Moore played a woman with a shaved head. Although video had shown Smith initially chuckling at the remark, he later stormed the stage and slapped Rock in an alleged effort to defend his wife.
Though the assault was televised, Rock allegedly declined to file a police report regarding the event. Will Packer, the broadcast producer for the ceremony that night, told ABC News in an interview that the Los Angeles Police Department approached Rock and asked him if he wanted to press charges.
"They were saying, you know, this is battery, was the word they used in that moment", Packer said. "They said, 'we will go get him. We are prepared. We're prepared to get him right now. You can press charges. We can arrest him'".
Packer said that the police department was giving the comedian options, but Rock was "dismissive of those options", explaining, "He was like, 'No, I'm fine'. He was like, 'no, no, no'".
Rock spoke about the incident for the first time on Wednesday in a comedy show in Boston. He did not fully address being slapped by Will Smith. Instead, he joked: "I had a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I'm still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point I'll talk about that s**t. And it will be serious and funny".
Smith has referred to the incident as "shocking, painful, and inexcusable".
"Change takes time and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason", Smith wrote in his resignation announcement. He added that he would be accepting "all consequences" from the Academy's Board of Governors.
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