The 96th Academy Awards will be held on March 10th, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Comedian and host Jimmy Kimmel returns as the host for the ceremony for the fourth time. Oscars’ nominations were announced on 23rd January 2024 with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer leading the charts with securing 13 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and more.
Emma Stone’s starrer Poor Things secured 11 nominations and Leonardo DiCaprio starrer Killers of the Flower Moon secured 10 nominations. Martin Scorsese who has received his tenth nomination for Best Director became the oldest nominee in the category. Fans are curious about one thing; is Will Smith going to attend the Oscars 2024?
Will Smith barred from attending the Oscars till 2032
Ahead of the Oscars 2024, actor Will Smith, known as one of the most influential actors in the entertainment industry across the globe, has garnered attention thanks to his infamous incident involving Chris Rock.
Back in 2022, when Chris Rock appeared on-stage to present an award and decided to make a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head in regards to the lead actress of G.I. Jane. Will Smith who was at the time sitting beside his wife decided to walk on stage and slap Chris Rock and yelled at him ‘Keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth!’ after he returned to his seat.
Chris Rock being a professional carried on with presenting the award, but everyone in the room could sense the tension with what they had witnessed. The reports have stated that the actor, right after the incident, was asked to leave the ceremony but he refused and later won the award for Best Actor for his work in King Richard. Will Smith took this opportunity to apologize to the Academy and its fellow actors but excluded Rock from his apology while accepting the award.
After the backlash the actor received online not only for his actions but also later attending the Vanity Fair Oscar Party and showing no remorse, he was forced to issue a statement. He shared on Instagram,
“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.”
In April 2022, the Academy not only accepted his resignation, which meant that he would no longer be allowed to vote on Oscar nominations but also announced that he was barred from attending the Academy Award events for 10 years i.e., up till 2032. The actor’s projects at the time were put on hold, especially after the backlash he received at the time as studio executives were hesitant to work with him.
Chris Rock claims quarrel with Will Smith started bubbling at Oscars 2016
Actor-comedian Chris Rock, who refused to answer any question regarding the altercation at the time, released his Netflix comedy special Selective Outrage on March 4, 2023. According to Variety, Chris Rock claimed that the entire thing between him and the Smiths started in 2016 when Will Smith was not nominated for Concussion and Rock was hosting the show. He said,
“She f**king said I should quit because Will didn’t get nominated for Concussion. What the f**k? So then I do some jokes about it. Who gives a f**k? That’s how it is. She started it. I finished it. Nobody’s picking on this b***h. She started this shit. Nobody was picking on her.”
Watch the Infamous Photo of Will Smith and Margot Robbie That Started Rumors of Their Alleged Affair
Will Smith returned to social media with a 5-minute-long video where he admitted that he needed the time to gather his thoughts on how to navigate through the situation. He shared with the viewers who constantly asked him why wasn’t he apologizing to Chris Rock to which he said that he did reach out to the comedian but received no response so he’s going to wait for him to be ready to talk.
He also added that disappointing people is his central trauma and he hates it when he lets people down adding that it hurts him psychologically and emotionally that he didn’t live up to people’s images and impressions of me. Will Smith in his video shared,
“I am deeply remorseful and I’m trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself. I’m human and I made a mistake and I’m trying not to think of myself as a piece of s**t so I would say to those people, I know it was confusing, I know it was shocking, but I promise you I am deeply devoted and committed to putting light and love and joy into the world.”
Back in 2023, CEO Bill Kramer confirmed in an interview that following the infamous incident at the 2022 Oscars, they implemented a crisis team to avoid and navigate any potential real-time threats. As for Oscars 2024, Will Smith won’t be attending the highly awaited ceremony given his ban from the Academy.
The Academy Awards 2024 will stream on ABC.
