Oscars Response to Will Smith Slap Was Not Swift Enough, Academy President Admits: We Were ‘Inadequate’

Rihanna wowed the audience at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona with her spectacular halftime show at the Super Bowl. The singer made a grand return to the stage and took the opportunity to reveal her second pregnancy.

Tim Gray Senior Vice President With 20/20 hindsight, the mega-success of Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” might seem inevitable, since it is a sequel to a familiar title, and it stars Tom Cruise. Of course nothing is a sure bet. And even with its popularity, there was no assurance Academy voters would embrace it. But the film earned $1.48 billion at the worldwide box office and scored Oscar noms for best picture, adapted screenplay, editing, sound, song (by Lady Gaga and BloodPop) and visual effects. The best picture nom recognizes four producers: Tom Cruise, David Ellison, Christopher McQuarrie and, after nearly 50 years in the industry, Jerry Bruckheimer, who is celebrating his first Oscar nomination.

Academy Awards draw closer, the most famous performance of Will Smith’s career is being reexamined. No, we’re not talking about his work on “Ali” and “King Richard,” we’re talking about “The Slap,” that iconic moment where Smith marched onstage, slapped Chris Rock, and won an Oscar for best actor minutes later. After a year of penance and practically no media presence, Smith is back online and is poking fun at the moment on TikTok.The 8 biggest pop culture moments of the yearOscars 2023: Jimmy Kimmel teases the Oscars, makes fun of ‘the slap’The video is a duet, featuring Smith’s reaction to another TikTok video.

Zack Sharf Back in 2001, Sean Penn found himself next to Jack Nicholson in a speeding car on the way to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin. The two actors were in Russia for the world premiere of “The Pledge” at the Moscow Film Festival. The Penn-directed psychological drama starred Nicholson as a retiring police detective who vows to catch the killer of a young child. Penn recently spoke to The Independent about his anxiety-inducing journey to meet Putin. “We were put in a convoy,” Penn said. “We knew that Putin was going to be the honored guest. In the nature of that time and space, we accepted the invitation. We got in this convoy, and we were going as fast as they wanted to drive, with no care for whether it might have presented danger in the villages we drove through.”

Tennis great Serena Williams will receive the Jackie Robinson Sports Award on Saturday during the 54th annual NAACP Image Awards, which are airing live on BET and simulcast across other Paramount Global networks including CBS, Comedy Central, MTV and VH1.

Academy Awards prepares to celebrate its 95th year, the prestigious awards show isn't without its fair share of scandal.Long before the headline-making slap between Will Smith and Chris Rock during the 2022 broadcast, there have been numerous scandals and controversies to come out of the Oscars.From reading out the wrong winner to cringe-worthy hosts and unwanted onstage PDA, ET is looking back at the most controversial moments in Oscars history:Will Smith's Oscars SlapIn arguably the biggest scandal to ever come out of the awards show, Will Smith took to the stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock across the face after Rock made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's, shaved head during the 2022 broadcast. Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia.

Academy Awards prepares to celebrate its 95th year, the prestigious awards show isn't without its fair share of scandal.Long before the headline-making slap between Will Smith and Chris Rock during the 2022 broadcast, there have been numerous scandals and controversies to come out of the Oscars.From reading out the wrong winner to cringe-worthy hosts and unwanted onstage PDA, ET is looking back at the most controversial moments in Oscars history:Will Smith's Oscars SlapIn arguably the biggest scandal to ever come out of the awards show, Will Smith took to the stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock across the face after Rock made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's, shaved head during the 2022 broadcast. Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia.

95th Academy Awards, a move enacted in wake of the slap heard and seen 'round the world.Glenn Weiss, a veteran live events director and multi EMMY-winning producer who will executive produce the March 12 ceremony, spoke to ET about the reasoning for the plan's implementation. While Weiss didn't directly reference Will Smith slapping Oscars presenter Chris Rock during last year's ceremony — a controversy that continues to reverberate -- the 61-year-old producer said the crisis team is another safety layer.«We go in with a really good plan for the known,» Weiss tells ET, «but you have to be ready for what may transpire with what you didn't plan.»If anyone's prepared for the unknown it's Weiss, as well as host Jimmy Kimmel, who has not only hosted multiple Oscar shows but is also comfortable in front of a live audience.

The Oscars are making sure they’re prepared for everything this year.

Will Smith walk on stage to slap Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.Little has – despite the wave of criticism they have received for years with various concerns  – also caused such an urge to change things within the way things work than the shocking incident.In the aftermath, which included a hiatus for the King Richard actor and a 10-year ban from attending the annual awards, the Academy has rolled out a series of new measures to make sure everything goes far more smoothly.WATCH: Will Smith reappears months after Chris Rock Oscars slap to answer difficult questions and issue apologiesMORE: Will Smith pays heartfelt tribute to daughter Willow with unseen family photosAs the Academy continues to grapple with the fallout of the several controversies they have faced in recent years, they have decided to incorporate a "crisis team" into their organization to be on high alert during the show and beyond.Speaking with TIME, the Academy's CEO, Bill Kramer – who only became the organization's leader last July – detailed what measures would be in place should a surprise crisis arise in the middle of the show.MORE: Will Chris Rock attend the 2023 Oscars?When asked how they are preparing, the entertainment executive first praised their choice of host, Jimmy Kimmel, as someone who is more than adept at handling live television. The star has since apologized for the incidentSpeaking of the newly founded crisis team, he said: "We have a whole crisis team, something we've never had before, and many plans in place."DISCOVER: Taylor Kinney rocks bright red lipstick in first pictures after Chicago Fire departureDISCOVER: The Rookie star Nathan Fillion's secret struggle with ongoing condition revealedHe added: "We've run many scenarios.

Academy chief executive Bill Kramer says that a “crisis team” will be introduced for the first time at this year’s Oscars to prepare for any unanticipated events. Mr Kramer said the team had run “many scenarios” ahead of the 95th Academy Awards, which is due to take place on March 12 and be hosted by US comedian Jimmy Kimmel. It comes after unprecedented scenes at last year’s ceremony, which saw actor Will Smith storm the stage and slap presenter Chris Rock.

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in a shocking moment that overshadowed Hollywood’s biggest night, TMZ reported Wednesday. The outlet cited unidentified Academy insiders who reportedly said the designated team will be able to spring into action at the March 12 ceremony if things go awry.“We have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and many plans in place,” the sources allegedly told TMZ. “We’ve run many scenarios.

After a stellar debut last year, Bel-Air — Peacock’s reboot of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air that featured Will Smith — returns Feb. 23 with a new showrunner, new supporting cast members, and an unexpected challenge: how does the Banks Family persuade a young Will Smith (Jabari Banks) to move back into their fancy mansion?

Zack Sharf The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer confirmed in an interview with Time magazine that the organization has implemented a new “crisis team” for the upcoming 2023 Oscars in order to quickly navigate any potential real-time emergency. The creation of a crisis team is a response to the 2022 Oscars, where Will Smith infamously walked on stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock across the face. Academy president Janet Yang previously said the group’s response to the incident was not swift enough. “We have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and many plans in place,” Kramer said. “We’ve run many scenarios. So it is our hope that we will be prepared for anything that we may not anticipate right now but that we’re planning for just in case it does happen.”

Movie Academy CEO Bill Kramer said there is “a whole crisis team” in place for the Academy Awards next — a first for the ceremony in its 95 years.

Will Smith caused a major controversy when he slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Despite all the backlash he received after the incident, Smith is now joking about it in a new video he shared to TikTok. In the video, he showed himself listening to another TikTok creator explaining "an absolutely unhinged exercise." As he listened thoughtfully, the other person said, "Did you know that you can pick any object, look at it and ask it what it thinks of you?" She explained that after doing this, "You will get an answer in your mind from intuition." As she gave examples of what kind of objects you could use for this exercise, Smith looked off to the side, out of view of his camera.

Will Smith has surprised fans with an “unexpected” Oscars joke on TikTok.The actor has been dealing with the fallout of last year’s Oscars, in which he walked onto the stage and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair. Moments later, Smith picked up the Best Actor award.Smith, who has since received a 10-year ban from the award ceremony, has subsequently been relatively quiet on social media.

“duet” with a TikTok user who prompts others on the app to ask an inanimate object what it thinks of you.“This works because everything has consciousness,” reads the caption of the original video by TikToker Sam Rossi.“You can pick up a pen and ask it how it sees you or what it thinks of you,” she continued, “and you will get an answer in your mind from your intuition. You can ask your car what it thinks of you, you can even ask money what it thinks of you.”In the duet, the 54-year-old actor reaches off camera to pick up an Academy Award for Best Actor, which he won for his role in “King Richard” during that fateful ceremony.He looks as though he’s about to ask his golden statue a question just before he ends the video — which has 112,500 likes and 1.6 million views as of Wednesday morning.Smith slapped 94th Academy Awards host Chris Rock, 58, after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair — which Smith took as a jab at his 51-year-old wife’s struggle with alopecia.

the video (which you can watch below). “Did you know that you can pick any object, look at it and ask it what it thinks of you?”The woman used a pen, one’s car or money as an example, and said that the one conducting the exercise will get an answer in their mind from their intuition.At the end of this explanation, Smith picked up his Oscar that he won for “King Richard.” Users reacted to the video in different ways, some praising Smith for his humanity.

Will Smith is seemingly hinting at his Oscars slap drama with Chris Rock in a new video shared to TikTok. Smith took to the social media platform to do a TikTok duet with @missmoneyworking.In the quick clip, Smith intently listens to the user before jumping in to give his own two cents.«I'm gonna tell you something, f**king crazy,» @missmoneyworking tells the camera.

The “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” remake is on its way, but it might take some time to get it just right, Kevin Hart has confirmed.

Will Smith is a doting father-of-three and loves nothing more than being a dad. The Hollywood star gave a glimpse into his relationship with his only daughter Willow, 22, this week, as he shared several never-before-seen photos of them together.MOST READ: Inside Kelly Ripa's public fallout with Michael StrahanThese included one of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor with Willow as a little girl, and another of the pair hugging outside, wearing coordinating black outfits.In the caption, he wrote: "That daddy/daughter thing is real!"VIDEO: Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's love story revealedThe Whip My Hair hitmaker was one of the first to reply to the sweet tribute, simply with a love heart eye emoji.MORE: Jada Pinkett Smith showcases blossoming baby bump in throwback photoMORE: Will Smith left in disbelief over drastic change to daughter Willow's appearanceWill's rare family-related social media post comes just a month ahead of the infamous Oscars incident, which saw him slap Chris Rock at the awards ceremony after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith alopecia.The turn of events resulted in Will receiving a ten-year ban from any Academy Award events.A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith)Will Smith paid a heartfelt tribute dedicated to his daughter Willow SmithThe Fresh Prince actor reflected on the situation in an interview with Trevor Noah back in November, saying: "There’s many nuances and complexities to it.

Oscars slap in his opening speech at the BAFTAs 2023.During the ceremony on Tuesday (February 19) at London’s Royal Festival Hall, the actor, who hosted the ceremony alongside Alison Hammond, told the crowd: “Nobody on my watch gets slapped tonight – except on the back.”The joke refers to the moment Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, during last year’s Oscars.Following a number of apologies after the incident, Smith resigned from the Academy and was later banned from attending all Academy events for 10 years.In July last year, Smith posted an apology video to address questions surrounding the incident. “I’ve reached out to Chris [Rock] and the message that came back is he’s not ready to talk and when he is, he will reach out.”All Quiet On The Western Front led the winners at the BAFTAs, picking up seven awards including Best Film and Film Not In The English Language.The Banshees Of Inisherin, which was nominated for 10 awards, went onto win four trophies including Supporting Actress for Kerry Condon and Supporting Actor for Barry Keoghan.Other winners include Austin Butler, who won Leading Actor for Elvis, and Cate Blanchett who won Leading Actress for TÁR.

EE BAFTAs viewers have called for Alison Hammond to host the Oscars after her huge success at Sunday night's ceremony. Bubbly TV presenter Alison, 48, hosted the new BAFTA Studio, chatting to stars including Austin Butler and Emma Thompson in between the on-stage presentations.

EE BAFTAs host Richard E Grant referenced Will Smith’s infamous slap at last year’s Oscars, as he opened the 2023 ceremony in London.The British actor told audiences that “on my watch no one gets slapped tonight” as he concluded his humorous remarks at the top of the show. It comes after Will Smith stormed onto the stage during the 94th annual Academy Awards in March and slapped the presenter Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's alopecia.

Sean Penn has reiterated his offer to have one of his Oscars melted down by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky – saying his gift to the battling leader was inspired by his “continuing shame towards the Motion Picture Academy.”

Comedian Marlon Wayans’ third comedy special for HBO Max, “Marlon Wayans: God Loves Me” will address “the slap” of Chris Rock by Will Smith that took place at the 94th Academy Awards ceremony. The hourlong performance was filmed at the Center Stage Theater in Atlanta. It will debut March 2 on the streamer.After recounting what happened at the 2022 Oscars, Wayans jokes, “That had nothing to do Will, l nothing to do with Jadam nothing do with Chris.

For all that is wrong with the world, at least we are alive to see actors like Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves beat Father Time to a standstill in some of the most innovative movie franchises of their day. Ever since revitalizing his career in the original “John Wick,” Reeves has cemented his place as an icon both onscreen and off.

Zack Sharf “Avatar: The Way of Water” introduces Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin, a marine biologist working for the villainous Resources Development Administration. It turns out that role could’ve gone to none other than Marc Maron, had the actor and beloved podcast host’s audition not been completely “ridiculous.” Maron opened up on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast about his short-lived “Avatar” journey. “That was ridiculous. Why the fuck would I want that job?” Maron said looking back. “There’s this assumption that we’re going to do four ‘Avatar’ movies. Dude, I don’t even remember the first one! I don’t know what this all means to the world. [James Cameron] built this city down there [at his Long Beach studio]. There’s people doing acrobatics down there, people flying…it’s like Cirque du Soleil down there.”

Zack Sharf Jonathan Majors’ career is about to enter a new level with the release of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” Majors stars as Kang the Conquerer, the new Thanos-sized villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe whose arc will extend all the way through at least 2025’s “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.” But Majors revealed in a new interview with Vanity Fair that his Marvel career could’ve ended before it began after he decided to walk out of his first general meeting with the studio. “I hope this doesn’t bite me in the ass, but I walked out of my Marvel general [meeting],” Majors said. “This was a long time ago. I had just gotten out of drama school and I’m running around town and I’m sitting in the office. I grew up in a very particular way and I don’t want to waste nobody’s time. So I got in there and they’re just busy. And I was like, ‘I’m supposed to be here, right?’ It got long and I went, ‘I’m just going to go. It’s cool. I’ll just go.'”

Jimmy Kimmel is back to host, completing the job for the third time, and has released a new teaser that references “Top Gun: Maverick” and last year’s iconic slap.The iconic Oscars dresses that have increased in value after Hollywood’s biggest nightPedro Almodóvar says Ana de Armas’ deserves the OscarA post shared by The Academy (@theacademy)The Oscars teaser is mostly built around “Top Gun: Maverick,” which was one of the most profitable films of the year and earned six Academy Award nominations. In the clip, Kimmel talks to Jon Hamm and Charles Parnell, who are reprising their roles in the film as Cyclone and Warlock, and tells them that he wasn’t expecting to be asked to host the Oscars again.

It’s been more than 15 years since the release of Will Smith’s film, “I Am Legend.” And in that time, there have been plenty of discussions about a sequel. However, nothing has come to be.

Oscars president Janet Yang has admitted that the organisation’s response to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards was “inadequate”.During the ceremony, Smith took the stage and slapped Rock across the face after the latter made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head. After the slap, Smith returned to his seat and repeatedly yelled at Rock: “Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth!”The event continued as normal after the incident, with Smith remaining in attendance and later going on to win Best Actor for his performance in King Richard.Speaking to attendees at the 2023 Oscar Nominees Luncheon, Yang admitted that the Academy did not handle the situation properly.“I’m sure you all remember we experienced an unprecedented event at the Oscars,” she told the star-studded audience (via Variety).

the infamous Will Smith “slapgate” at the 2022 Oscars was “inadequate.”The organization, which votes on nominees, winners, and hosts of the annual ceremony, said Monday that it will be “fully transparent” in the future.At the organization’s luncheon hosted for this year’s Oscar nominees, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences president Janet Yang spoke about last year’s disastrous event.“I’m sure you all remember we experienced an unprecedented event at the Oscars,” she said, according to Variety.“What happened onstage was fully unacceptable and the response from our organization was inadequate.”“We learned from this that the Academy must be fully transparent and accountable in our actions, and particularly in times of crisis you must act swiftly, compassionately, and decisively for ourselves and for our industry,” she continued.“You should and can expect no less from us going forward.”During last year’s Oscar Awards live broadcast, Smith walked onto the stage and struck Rock across the face after the funnyman made a joke about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.Rock compared Pinkett Smith — who suffers from alopecia and shaved her head last summer — to Demi Moore’s bald character “G.I.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Tom Cruise stole the show at the 95th Oscars luncheon, the annual gathering celebrating the nominees for the year’s Academy Awards. At the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the in-person event had opening remarks from Academy president Janet Yang. The roll call of this year’s 182 attendees was read by Devon Franklin, a member of the Board of Governors, who began with Jamie Lee Curtis and ended with Guillermo del Toro. Aside from Yang addressing the Will Smith controversy at the top of the event to the attendees (without saying his name), more than 200 guests gathered to celebrate the cinema’s achievements from 2022. Of them, 182 were official nominees for this year’s ceremony, the largest turnout in history. Some of the notable names missing were best actress nominees Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) and Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”), supporting actor Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), producer James Cameron (“Avatar: The Way of Water”) and original song contenders Rihanna (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), Lady Gaga (“Top Gun: Maverick”) and David Byrne (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”).

The Academy Awards admit they could have handled last year’s mishaps better.