Will Smith is in the middle of a comeback after his 2022 Oscars slap heard around the world with Chris Rock. After apologizing multiple times, and the success of his movie, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, at the box office, he apparently wants to move on and move forward with his Hollywood career.
In the wake of his return to the public eye, the 55-year-old actor is reportedly trying to get his 10-year ban from attending the Academy Awards lifted, according to In Touch. Smith’s punishment was handed down after he withdrew his membership from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A pal of Smith’s shared with the media outlet, “Will’s defenders are always reminding people that, with respect to ‘The Slap,’ Will apologized in no uncertain terms, but more importantly, Will is selling tickets and putting butts in seats at a time when the whole business is struggling.”
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They noted that Tom Cruise continually gets a pass from Hollywood when it comes to his controversial ties to the Church of Scientology, so the insider wants to know why there’s such a double standard. It might be The Academy members themselves. “Well, there are still people in the Academy who think Will should have been arrested for what he did,” the source claimed. And of course, there is Rock, who has not forgiven his former friend for his spontaneous outburst.
“Another obstacle is that Chris Rock is rightfully still very upset about the incident, and he’s a beloved Academy insider,” the insider added. It seems that everyone wants the men “to publicly and genuinely bury the hatchet” because that might be the only thing to move the needle on Smith’s ban. Smith acknowledged his misdeeds in a July 2022 Instagram Reel where he took accountability for not apologizing to Rock in his Oscars acceptance speech, admitting that “fogged out by that point, it’s all fuzzy.”
“I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is he’s not ready to talk, and when he is, he will reach out,” he added. Rock made one statement about the incident and that was in his March 2023 Netflix special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage. A Daily Mail source noted, “Chris wanted to get this out once and for all and be done with it. This was very cathartic to him.” Rock and Smith might be done with the incident, but a reconciliation is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Before you go, click here to see more of the most shocking Oscars moments.
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