Will Smith: What the actor’s retirement from the academy means for his future at the Oscars

Will Smith has resigned from the academy after beating Chris Rock at the Oscars – but what does that mean for the actor?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is the organization that determines the nominations and ultimately determines the winners of the Oscars each year.

There are approximately 10,000 members who are expected to “advance the arts and sciences of film.”

Five days after the incident at the 2022 Oscars in which Smith took the stage and slapped Rock after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, he has announced he will be stepping down as a member.

This followed many reports that the actor was facing disciplinary action from the academy.

But what does that mean for Smith now?

First, Smith will keep his Best Actor Oscar, which he won for King Richard after meeting Rock. He apologized to the Academy during a tearful acceptance speech.

The retirement won’t stop Smith from attending future Academy Awards either, meaning the actor could return to present Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2023. Traditionally, all of the reigning winners from the past year return to announce who will replace them as the newest recipients of the top honors.

Should Smith come up with another performance that Academy members believe deserves Oscar competition, they can still nominate him, meaning Smith can win more Oscars.

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For Smith, the resignation simply means that he has no say in which films can be nominated or will win in the future. However, Academy President David Rubin said: “We will continue our disciplinary process against Mr. Smith for violations of the Academy’s standards of conduct before our next scheduled board meeting on April 18.”

In a statement, Smith called his actions “shocking, painful and inexcusable” and said he would accept any “further consequences” the Academy may yet decide on.

Smith’s motive for hitting Rock was the belief that the comedian, who dubbed Pinkett Smith “GI Jane” because of her shaved head, was mocking her diagnosis of alopecia.

While Rock said he was “still processing what happened” at the ceremony, a source close to the comedian said, “he had no idea” Pinkett Smith had alopecia.