Just one Academy Award has ever been revoked within the historical past of the Oscars, and it was for a documentary that had been nominated within the improper 12 months.
After Will Smith marched on stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock throughout the March 27 Academy Awards, Will Smith accepted the Oscar for greatest actor. He obtained the award for his position as Richard Williams in “King Richard.”
“The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith finally evening’s present,” the group stated in a press release the subsequent day. “We’ve formally began a proper overview across the incident and can discover additional motion and penalties in accordance with our bylaws, requirements of conduct and California regulation.”
Many social media customers debated whether or not Smith deserved to be punished for his actions. Some argued that he ought to be stripped of his award, whereas others claimed the academy doesn’t even revoke the awards of members expelled from its group.
THE QUESTION
Has an actor ever been stripped of an Academy Award?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No, an actor has by no means been stripped of an Academy Award.
WHAT WE FOUND
Though the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences, which oversees the Academy Awards, has expelled people from its group earlier than, it has not stripped an actor of their Academy Award.
The academy has revoked an Oscar earlier than, however for a movie, not an actor. That occurred in 1969, when the movie “Younger Individuals” was awarded 1968’s greatest documentary. It was later declared ineligible as a result of the movie had truly been launched in 1967, in accordance with the Academy Awards database. The academy gave the movie’s award to the runner-up in the perfect documentary class, “Journey into Self.”
In a short profile of “Younger Individuals’” director Alex Grasshoff, Texas A&M states the event marked the primary time the place an Academy Award was first awarded after which revoked.
There have been no different cases of awards being rescinded, together with for actors’ conduct that resulted in expulsion from the group.
In 2017, shortly after sexual assault allegations in opposition to movie producer Harvey Weinstein got here to mild, the academy released a statement confirming it had voted to expel him from the academy. However Weinstein, who has since been convicted of rape and sexual assault, nonetheless retains his award for greatest image in 1999, in accordance with the Academy Awards database.
The academy expelled Roman Polanski and Bill Cosby in 2018, additionally over sexual abuse allegations. The Academy Awards’ database nonetheless lists Polanski because the winner of the 2003 greatest directing award. On the time Polanski obtained the award, his 1977 responsible plea for the cost of “illegal sexual activity with a minor” was publicly recognized, and he couldn’t settle for his award in individual as a result of he has been a fugitive of the U.S. justice system since fleeing the nation simply earlier than sentencing.
The Requirements of Conduct all academy members should adhere to states its members should uphold “values of respect for human dignity” and “there isn’t a place within the Academy for individuals who abuse their standing, energy or affect in a fashion that violates recognised requirements of decency.” It makes no direct point out to any type of violence, or any conduct on the Oscars.
Extra from VERIFY: Meme claiming to indicate movie star reactions to Will Smith slap was from 2017 Oscars