*Will Smith wants Oscars bosses to lift his 10-year ban for slapping Chris Rock in 2022.
Insiders claim that Smith hopes the immense success of his latest film, Sony’s buddy action comedy “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” will be enough to welcome him back into the organization.
“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,” a source told In Touch, per Yahoo.
“That counts for a lot – just ask Will’s old pal Tom Cruise. Nobody was bringing up Scientology when Tom was filling cinemas week after week two years ago with Top Gun: Maverick. Will is a sinner, but sinners can be forgiven and he’s driving a lot of business right now, against all odds,” the insider continued.
“… there are still people in the Academy who think Will should have been arrested for what he did. The big change this summer is that the fans have spoken, and they want Will to keep being a movie star. That’s huge and Will is using that as his rocket fuel to get back into the good graces of the Academy, which has more Black members than ever before,” the source added.
Meanwhile, Rock is still upset about being slapped at the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022, after he joked about Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head. Jada suffers from the hair loss condition alopecia, which Rock claims he didn’t know at the time.
“Another obstacle is that Chris Rock is rightfully still very upset about the incident, and he’s a beloved Academy insider,” the source said.
“The moment everybody is waiting for is for Chris and Will to publicly and genuinely bury the hatchet – that’s going to give the Academy the confidence to revisit their decision to ban Will from the Oscars for 10 years.”
On April 8, 2022, the Academy announced a ten-year ban on Smith from all events as punishment for slapping Rock.
“We want to express our deep gratitude to Mr. Rock for maintaining his composure under extraordinary circumstances. We also want to thank our hosts, nominees, presenters and winners for their poise and grace during our telecast,” the Academy said in a statement.
The statement continued, “This action we are taking today in response to Will Smith’s behavior is a step toward a larger goal of protecting the safety of our performers and guests and restoring trust in the Academy. We also hope this can begin a time of healing and restoration for all involved and impacted.”
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