Will Will Smith Attend The 2023 Oscars? The Academy Determined His Fate

A year after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage at the 2022 Oscars for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, some people are wondering whether the actor will be attending the 2023 Academy Awards on March 12, considering he won the Oscar for Best Actor at the previous ceremony. Well, in short, Smith won’t be at the 2023 Oscars or the next nine ceremonies unless the Academy decides to lift its 10-year ban early.

For those who need a refresher: After Rock made a G.I. Jane joke about Pinkett Smith, Smith rushed the stage to hit the comedian. Rock kept his composure and joked that “Will Smith just slapped the s*** out of” him, and Smith yelled from his seat for Rock to “keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.” The Academy asked Smith to leave the ceremony, but he reportedly refused to leave. He later gave his acceptance speech for Best Actor for his role in King Richard.

Days after the incident, Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, calling his actions “shocking, painful, and inexcusable.” The Academy accepted his resignation, releasing a statement noting that “The Board [of Governors] has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards.”

The Emancipation actor apologized for his actions months later in July in an emotional plea, noting how he felt “deeply remorseful.” “I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk. When he is, he will reach out,” Smith said in a video posted to his YouTube account. “I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I am here whenever you are ready to talk.” Smith also apologized to Rock’s mother and brother Tony. “I’m not going to try to unpack all of that right now, but I can say to all of you, there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment,” Smith lamented. “No part of me that thinks that is the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insult.”

Even a year after the incident, people are still talking about it — including Rock. A few days after the slap heard around the world, he mentioned that he wasn’t ready to talk about it during a comedy set in Boston. “I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point I’ll talk about that sh*t. And it will be serious and funny.” And indeed, he did.

I got smacked like a year ago… and people are like, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.

In his live-streamed Netflix special Chris Rock: Selective Outrage on March 4, the comedian ended his set speaking about Slapgate. “You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows. Everybody f*cking knows,” Rock said. “I got smacked like a year ago… and people are like, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”

The comedian also commented on whether the blow to his face hurt. “Will Smith is significantly bigger than me. We are not the same size. Will Smith does movies with his shirt off. You’ve never seen me do a movie with my shirt off. Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in a movie. You think I auditioned for that part? I played Pookie in New Jack City. I played a piece of corn in Pootie Tang.”

Despite getting slapped on national TV, Rock doesn’t consider himself a victim. “I’m not a victim baby. You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle [King] crying,” Rock said. “You will never see it… It’s never going to happen. F*ck that sh*t, I took that sh*t like [Manny] Pacquiao.”

Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel joked that he’s thought about what to do in case there’s another slap. He’s ready to throw hands, unless Dwayne Johnson is involved. “I size them up, and, if I’m bigger than they are, I beat the sh*t out of them on television,” he told The Hollywood Reporter before the 2023 Oscars. “And if it’s the Rock, I run.”