Will Smith won his first Oscar at the 94th Academy Awards, less than an hour after he walked on stage and slapped Chris Rock. When he walked back on stage to accept his Best Actor award for playing Richard Williams in 2021’s King Richard, he got a standing ovation from almost everyone in the room. However, not everyone chose to stand up for him. Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher chose to stay in their seats, and in an interview, the actress explained why.
The idea of leading by example only makes sense when you actually have someone to lead. We have our tiny little tribe here at home, and never once do I want to tell them to do something if I’m not willing to do it myself,
Mila Kunis explained.
Wyatt, 8, and Dimitri, 5, who are both cute, are part of her “little tribe.” The Friends with Benefits star, who is 39 years old, went on,
Not standing up to me was a no-brainer, but what was shocking to me was how many people did stand up. I thought, wow, what a time we’re living in that rather than do what’s right, people focus on doing what looks good. It’s insane to me.
Fans know that the 54-year-old actor hit the 57-year-old comedian after he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s head. Will’s slap was talked about a lot for a long time after it happened. Fans and celebrities alike had strong opinions on the matter and wondered if Will would get in trouble for it. About two weeks after the event, which was called “The Slap Heard Around the World,” the Academy decided what to do. David Rubin, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Dawn Hudson, the CEO, wrote on April 8:
The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards.
They also called the physical attack “unacceptable and harmful behavior” and said they were “grateful” for how Chris handled the shocking situation.
Will finally talked about what happened in a long YouTube video apology in July. He talked about the “personal work” he did in the months after the event, and then he directly apologized to Chris.
I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk and when he is, he will reach out. So I will I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable,
Will said.
