Academy Says It Does Not 'Condone Violence' After Smith Slaps Chris Rock; Comedian Declines To File Charges
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has reacted to the infamous slapgate incident involving actors Will Smith and Chris Rock during the Oscars ceremony, saying that it does not support "violence of an
The
Academy
of
Motion
Picture
Arts
and
Sciences
(AMPAS)
has
reacted
to
the
infamous
slapgate
incident
involving
actors
Will
Smith
and
Chris
Rock
during
the
Oscars
ceremony,
saying
that
it
does
not
support
"violence
of
any
form".
Smith,
who
picked
up
his
maiden
best
actor
Oscar
trophy
for
playing
Richard
Williams
in
"King
Richard",
during
the
ceremony
strode
to
the
stage
minutes
earlier
and
landed
a
punch
on
Rock
after
the
comedian
cracked
a
joke
about
his
wife
Jada
Pinkett-Smith.
After
the
ceremony
concluded,
the
official
Twitter
handle
of
AMPAS
posted
a
brief
statement,
saying,
"The
Academy
does
not
condone
violence
of
any
form.
Tonight
we
are
delighted
to
celebrate
our
94th
Academy
Awards
winners,
who
deserve
this
moment
of
recognition
from
their
peers
and
movie
lovers
around
the
world."
The
exchange
started
when
Rock
came
on
stage
to
announce
the
winners
for
best
documentary
feature
award.
Before
revealing
the
winner,
Rock
decided
to
land
a
joke
on
Pinkett-Smith,
saying
that
she
could
star
in
the
sequel
to
"G.I.
Jane",
to
which
she
was
seen
rolling
her
eyes.
The
joke
was
in
reference
to
Pinkett-Smith's
shaved
head
because
of
autoimmune
disorder
alopecia
but
it
didn't
go
down
well
with
Smith,
who
went
up
to
the
stage
and
punched
Rock,
leaving
everybody
in
attendance
shocked
over
the
events.
After
receiving
the
jab
from
the
actor,
Rock
said,
"Wow.
Will
Smith
just
smacked
the
s**t
out
of
me." Once
he
reached
back
to
his
seat,
Smith
shouted
at
Rock,
saying,
"Keep
my
wife’s
name
out
of
your
f**king
mouth!".
After
Rock
announced
the
winners
of
the
best
documentary
feature
award,
Diddy
was
the
next
presenter
during
the
ceremony.
The
rapper,
who
appeared
to
introduce
the
50th
anniversary
celebration
to
“The
Godfather”,
addressed
the
situation
by
saying,
"Will
and
Chris,
we’re
going
to
solve
that
like
a
family.
Right
now
we’re
moving
on
with
love.
Everybody
make
some
noise."
Meanwhile,
the
Los
Angeles
Police
Department
issued
a
statement,
revealing
that
Rock
had
declined
to
file
a
police
report.
"LAPD
investigative
entities
are
aware
of
an
incident
between
two
individuals
during
the
Academy
Awards
program.
The
incident
involved
one
individual
slapping
another.
"The
individual
involved
has
declined
to
file
a
police
report.
If
the
involved
party
desires
a
police
report
at
a
later
date,
LAPD
will
be
available
to
complete
an
investigative
report," the
LAPD
statement
read.
Smith
referenced
the
incident
in
his
emotional
acceptance
speech,
summing
it
up
as
"love
will
make
you
do
crazy
things".
"Thank
you
Denzel
(Washington),
who
said
to
me
a
few
minutes
ago...
he
said,
'at
your
highest
moment,
be
careful,
that's
when
the
devil
comes
for
you',"
he
said.
The
53-year-old
actor
also
apologised
to
the
Academy
for
the
incident
in
his
speech.
"I
want
to
apologise
to
the
academy.
I
want
to
apologise
to
all
my
fellow
nominees...
Art
imitates
life.
I
look
like
the
crazy
father
just
like
they
said
about
Richard
Williams.
But
love
will
make
you
do
crazy
things,"
the
actor
said
through
tears.