Will Smith has been banned from the Oscars gala and other Academy events for ten years after the American actor slapped comic Chris Rock at the ceremony, as per BBC reports.
Find out who else has been banned from the event as the 53-year-old The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star makes the list.
How many people have been expelled from the presentation, regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide, over its 94-year history?
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Will Smith makes the ban list
Will Smith will be barred from attending all Academy events, both in-person and virtual, for a period of ten years.
This comes after his behaviour toward Chris Rock when he slapped the comedian in reaction to a joke about his wife’s shaved head, a result of the hair-loss condition alopecia.
In a statement, the Academy said the 94th Oscars had been “overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behaviour we saw Mr Smith exhibit on stage”.
Smith has apologised for his actions and resigned from the Academy.
Who else has been banned from the Oscars?
In its 94-year history, at least five people have been expelled from the academy, CTV News reports.
Entertainment Weekly states that American film actor Carmine Caridi was the first-ever member of the Academy to be expelled.
In 2004, Caridi was banned from the event for pirating screeners intended only for members to view and use for awards voting purposes and allowing the screeners to be leaked to the internet.
American former film producer Harvey Weinstein still has his Oscars but was expelled in 2017, shortly after a litany of sexual assault allegations against him came to light.
It was Weinstein’s heinous actions that prompted the Academy to create a new code of conduct, which states that the Academy does not tolerate “people who abuse their status, power or influence in a manner that violates standards of decency.”
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/ AFP / JEAN BAPTISTE LACROIX (Photo credit should read JEAN BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP via Getty Images)
More prohibited people
The Academy expelled Bill Cosby from its ranks in 2018, only a month after the American comedian was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting basketball player Andrea Constand, Entertainment Weekly also reports.
Roman Polanski was expelled at the same time as Cosby under the new code of conduct.
He had still been nominated for Oscars multiple times despite fleeing to France after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in 1997, even winning Best Director for The Piano in 2003.
Polanski has not been stripped of his awards, although he was unable to attend the ceremonies due to being wanted by United States authorities and therefore being unable to enter the country without facing legal action.
Cinematographer Adam Kimmel was expelled from the Academy in 2021 for his history as a sex offender.
He was removed from Academy membership for violating their code of conduct when it emerged that Kimmel had been arrested twice for statutory assaults on minors.
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