Mobilenews24x7 Bureau
Los Angeles, April 7 : Will Smith’s one slap mired in controversy was the definitive moment for 94th Academy Awards becoming the most talked about moment at the ceremony. Apart from boosting the popularity of the Oscars tremendously and becoming front page headline for publications across the world, the slap has earned Smith the scorn of several and may have put his career in a bit of a pinch. Reportedly, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have moved up their hearing for discussing sanctions against the Oscar winning actor to Friday. Smith has become a hot topic of debate, memes and controversy for slapping presenter Chris Rock over cracking a joke on his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. According to the letter from the Academy Board of Governors, the meeting, which was originally scheduled for April 18, has now been rescheduled for April 8. The meeting was moved up in the wake of Smith’s resignation from the Academy to ‘address possible sanctions for Will Smith in response to his actions during the Oscars broadcast on March 27’. Smith resigned from the academy on April 1 and said he would accept whatever consequences the group decided were appropriate. Post his resignation, the Academy have said that they no longer feel the need to follow through with the legally prescribed timetable to consider the matter, Academy President David Rubin said in a letter to members.The meeting will take place virtually on Zoom. The full letter is below: Dear Fellow Governors, I am calling a board meeting for this Friday morning, April 8, at 9:00 am PT, rather than the previously scheduled April 18 meeting, to address possible sanctions for Will Smith in response to his actions during the Oscars broadcast on March 27. The April 18 date was set in accordance with California law and our Standards of Conduct because our agenda included possible suspension or expulsion of Mr. Smith from membership. We were required to provide Mr. Smith notice 15 days prior to the board meeting at which such action might be taken, and also give him the opportunity to provide the board a written statement no less than five days prior to that meeting. Following Mr. Smith’s resignation of his Academy membership on Friday, April 1, suspension or expulsion are no longer a possibility and the legally prescribed timetable no longer applies. It is in the best interest of all involved for this to be handled in a timely fashion. Thank you for arranging to assemble on Friday morning at 9:00 am PT. Zoom details will follow soon. David This is one of the moments which Will Smith may want eradicated from his memory, but thanks to the Internet that may no longer be possible, if anything he is going to have to live with this longer than he would want to. After the massive meme fest on sites such as YouTube, people are now immortalizing the event in their memories through a tattoo depicting the Smith slapping Chris Rock in various shades. Jon Arton, 36, is a tattoo artist working in Birmingham and he was approached by a customer who said they wanted to get a tattoo to remember the moment. Jon, who completed the tattoo on Sunday, April 3, said: “I thought let’s do it – it’s hilarious. “It’s quite small and discreet – if it wasn’t I probably wouldn’t have done it.” He added: “It’s a weird, interesting and crazy thing – I don’t think there’s a right or wrong side, it’s just an interesting thing some celebrities have done.”
with agency inputs
