LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Will Smith apologized for slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards Sunday, but will that be enough to prevent any kind of backlash? The Academy's board of governors said it will meet Wednesday to decide what action to take against the Best Actor winner following his reaction to Rock’s joke.
While it's unlikely he'd actually lose his Oscar, there are many other actions the board could take. Marc Malkin, senior editor at Variety and host of the "Just for Variety" podcast joined KNX In Depth to discuss what Smith may face.
Because regardless of whether or not Rock has chosen to press charges (he hasn’t), the Academy knows it must take action.
“The options are really open right now,” Malkin said.
“The Academy is this big organization that doesn’t make decisions very quickly and it could be anything from you know…canceling his membership to the Academy, taking away his Oscar…don’t let him ever attend the Oscars again.”
Malkin added that there are various ways this could all play out, and said he doesn't expect a decision anytime soon.
“The most serious action that could have been taken, with anyone who is the victim of assault, [is that they] could press charges,” Malkin said.
As Rock has already said he won’t press charges against Smith, the question now is what defines “serious,” in terms of how serious things could get for Smith following his actions at the 94th annual Academy Awards.
Malkin said he would define serious as the Academy deciding to take back Smith’s Oscar, or telling him that he is no longer a member…but that he doubts those things will happen. However, he knows Smith will not just get off scot-free.
“They’re going to reprimand him in some way, they have to,” Malkin said.
“They can’t look like they’re condoning this in any way. But, how that plays out…I can’t emphasize enough that I don’t think we’re gonna know overnight.”
Because of Smith's reach, and the reach of his wife and children, Malkin said the ultimate decision could affect quite a few people and projects in the film industry.
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