Will Smith is facing a 10-year ban from events held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for slapping Oscars presenter Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards in March.
But the reaction to the film academy’s decision Friday was met with mixed results, ranging from disbelief to accusations of racism.
While the “King Richard” star has repeatedly apologized and accepted the academy’s decision, the organization contended that its ban was “a step toward a larger goal of protecting the safety of our performers and guests, and restoring trust in the academy.”
But many people on social media didn’t see it that way (and celebrities were mostly silent). Oscars
Some critics characterized the academy’s ruling against the “Fresh Prince” veteran as racially motivated, while others saw it as the group making up for lax repercussions for past transgressors.
They cited inappropriate behavior by the likes of Oscar winner Adrien Brody, who planted a kiss on presenter Halle Berry in 2003, or that of comedian Jim Carrey, a critic of Smith who made live-show advances on an unwilling Alicia Silverstone at the 1997 MTV Movie Awards.
“The ten year ban they gave Will Smith feels very ‘make a lesson of this Black person,’” tweeted author Frederick Joseph.
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“This is 100% racially motivated,” wrote Twitter user Somari, replying to a news story about Smith’s punishment. “Jim Carrey sexually assaulted a woman live on stage and she was visually distressed. Will Smith slaps a dude for mocking an illness and gets banned for a decade.”
Others contrasted the academy’s swift action with the “Ali” and “Concussion” actor with the delayed punishments involving disgraced Hollywood players such as Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski, producer Harvey Weinstein and actor Kevin Spacey.
Me too: I was sexually harassed at 11
Following the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, women have been sharing their stories of sexual harassment online using the hashtag #metoo. Here, Shaimaa Khalil writes about her first experience of harassment as a child growing up in Egypt.
There’s one particular day – soon after I turned 11 – that I can’t forget.
I was at my grandparents’ house and for the first time I’d been allowed to go out with a cousin and her friend, without any adults – three girls on our own, out on our first adventure.
“Be careful. Don’t go too far and don’t spend your money on stupid things,” my grandma warned us. She meant ice cream – and yes, we were planning to spend our money on that.
I was excited, but nervous. This needed to go well if I was to stand a chance of ever going out on my own!
“OK Shaimaa,” I remember thinking. “No falling, no fighting, no losing your money.” I should have added: “No getting sexually harassed by teenage boys.” But how could I know?
In the busy summer streets of Alexandria, we hadn’t realised we were being followed. But three boys walking behind started bumping into us. Then one of them groped me.
All I could do to escape our tormentors was walk ahead as fast as I could, with my cousin and her friend trying to catch up.
But they kept following us.
The three of us held hands and rushed back toward my grandparents’ house.
The boys were right behind. Now verbally harassing us.
I was frightened, but also angry. These boys had ruined my big day. I turned around and yelled: “Kifaya! Enough!”
“Kifaya!” one of them echoed, mocking me.
Later on, my mother chastised me. “You talked to them?” she fumed. “You don’t talk to someone who’s harassing you … you just keep going. That’s what they want – if you engage and make a scene, they win.”
My grandma chimed in. “Were you loud? Were you laughing and being silly for no reason? I know how you can get, Shaimaa.”
Harvey Weinstein allegations: Disgraced movie mogul ‘forcibly performed oral sex on menstruating woman’
Harvey Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period, the alleged victim has claimed in the latest allegation against the disgraced movie mogul.
Mimi Haleyi said on Tuesday that she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child’s bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s.
She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company.
But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris.
She said she thought she had put an end to his advances so she agreed to visit his New York loft apartment to keep a good relationship with the powerful producer but he quickly began making sexual advances and “backed” her into a bedroom covered in children’s drawings.
“I told him ‘no, no, no’. But he insisted,” Ms Haleyi told a press conference in New York.
“I said ‘I’m on my period, there’s no way this is going to happen, please stop’. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.
”He held me down on the bed. I tried to get away, I tried to get him off of me and kept asking him to stop but it was impossible.
“He then orally forced himself on me while I was on my period. I was in disbelief and disgusted.”
Through tears, she added: “I would not have wanted anyone to do that to me even if the person had been a romantic partner.”
Harvey Weinstein scandal: Who has accused him of what?
Kate Beckinsale, Lysette Anthony and Gwyneth Paltrow are among more than 50 women who have come forward with allegations ranging from rape to sexual harassment by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Together, the claims build up a picture of one of the most powerful men in the industry exerting pressure on younger women at the start of their careers, often in hotel rooms and offices.
He has admitted his behaviour has “caused a lot of pain” but has described many of the allegations against him as “patently false”.
His spokesperson has said “any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied” and there were “never any acts of retaliation” against women who turned him down.
Here are some of those who have made allegations against him.
Daryl Hannah
The Splash actress says she repeatedly turned down Weinstein’s advances during promotion for Kill Bill and its sequel. He tried, she says, to get into her hotel room on multiple occasions, once getting a key and “burst[ing] in like a raging bull.”
He asked to grope her breasts and then asked her to expose herself to him, she alleges. She suffered physical repercussions as her flights were cancelled and she was left stranded in Italy after she turned him down on one occasion, she adds.
Annabella Sciori
“I was so ashamed of what happened,” Sciorra told the New Yorker. “And I fought. I fought. But still I was like, Why did I open that door?”
Mimi Haleyi
Former production worker Mimi Haleyi alleges that she was raped by Weinstein when he forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006 in his New York apartment.
“I told him ‘no, no, no’. But he insisted,” Ms Haleyi told a press conference in New York.