News Analysis India

Tag: 2022 Oscars

  • When you hurt my child, you hurt me: Chris Rock’s mom reacts to Will Smith slapping her son at Oscars

    By ANI

    UNITED STATES: Nearly after a month of the 2022 Oscars slap controversy, Rose Rock has reacted to actor Will Smith slapping her son Chris Rock during the live telecast of the award ceremony.

    As per The Hollywood Reporter, Rose Rock, who is an author and motivational speaker, told an outlet that her son is doing well but “still processing” the incident that led Smith to resign from the Academy, following which the organization announced that the Oscar winner for ‘King Richard’ is banned from all events, including the Oscars ceremonies, for the next 10 years.

    “I told someone when Will slapped Chris, he slapped all of us, but he really slapped me. When you hurt my child, you hurt me,” Rose Rock said. Rose said she has no idea what she would say to Smith whenever they will cross paths.

    “I have no idea what I would say other than, ‘What in the world were you thinking?’ Because you did a slap, but so many things could have happened. Chris could have stepped back and fallen. You really could have gotten taken out in handcuffs. You didn’t think. You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye, and you went up, and you made her day because she was bowled over laughing when it happened,” Rose said.

    She also shared her thoughts on the 10-year ban and said, “What does that mean? You don’t even go every year.”

    Rose said she didn’t think the Academy should have taken away Smith’s Oscar, and went on to say she was “really, really proud” of how her son reacted at the moment. She added that she didn’t think the apology Smith posted to his Instagram account on the day after the ceremony felt genuine.

    “I feel really bad that he never apologized. His people wrote up a piece and said, ‘I apologize to Chris Rock,’ but something like that is personal. You reach out,” Rose Rock said.

    The incident happened when Chris Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head while presenting the best documentary feature award at the 2022 Oscars.

    Rock said he couldn’t wait to see Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia areata, star in ‘G.I. Jane 2’ which led Smith to go up on stage and slap Rock. Smith returned to his seat and shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***** mouth!”

    A few minutes after the incident, Smith was announced Best Actor at the 94th Academy Awards. While accepting his first-ever Oscar for best actor (leading role) in ‘King Richard’, Smith apologized to the Academy and fellow nominees but did not mention Rock.

    For the unversed, Will Smith recently visited India marking her first public appearance post the controversy. He was spotted at a private airport in Mumbai on Saturday. 

  • Oscars 2022: Will Smith punches Chris Rock over joke about wife Jada Pinkett

    By ANI

    LOS ANGELES: American actor Will Smith punched comedian Chris Rock after he got miffed at the latter’s joke directed at his wife Jada Pinkett Smith during the 94th Academy Awards.

    After slapping Rock, Smith walked back and used expletives, saying: “Keep my wife’s name out of your *** mouth”. As per Variety, Rock appeared on stage to present the Oscar for documentary feature and he then made a joke about Jada-Pinkett Smith (Will Smith’s wife) being in ‘G.I. Jane’ because of her shaved bald head.

    Initially, Smith was laughing but Jada clearly looked affected by the joke. Smith then took to the stage to punch Rock.

    Many in the ceremony looked stunned by the altercation. Diddy, who was the next presenter addressed the situation by saying: “Will and Chris, we’re going to solve that like family. Right now we’re moving on with love. Everybody make some nose.”

    Last year, Jada Pinkett Smith had announced that she shaved her head after struggling with alopecia. Talking about Will Smith, the actor is nominated in the Best Actor Category for ‘King Richard’.

    The 94th Academy Awards are being held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and the ceremony is being hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes. The nominations for the Oscars were announced on February 8 this year by actors Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan.

  • 2022 Oscars: AMPAS decides to present 8 awards before live telecast 

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has decided that winners for eight categories will be presented off air during the 2022 Oscars, a move that received instant backlash from the artistic community and the public.

    On Tuesday, Academy President David Rubin sent a letter to the nominees and AMPAS members, informing them of the changes that are intended to improve the dwindling viewership numbers of the Oscars broadcast.

    The 94th Academy Awards will begin an hour earlier to present eight awards categories — Documentary Short, Film Editing, Make-up and Hairstyling, Original Score, Production Design, Animated Short, Live Action Short, and Sound — before the live telecast starts.

    The presentations for these categories will be included later in the live broadcast, reported Variety.

    “After carefully listening to feedback and suggestions from our film community, our network partner, and all those who love the Oscars, it was evident we needed to make some decisions about the broadcast that are in the best interest of the future of our show and our organisation,” Rubin wrote in the letter.

    “When deciding how to produce the Oscars, we recognise it’s a live event television show and we must prioritise the television audience to increase viewer engagement and keep the show vital, kinetic, and relevant. This has been an important focus of discussion for quite some time. We do this while also remembering the importance of having our nominees relish a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he added.

    Rubin further said the changes will allow organisers more time and opportunity for “audience entertainment and engagement through comedy, musical numbers, film clip packages and movie tributes”.

    He acknowledged that the changes could invite a backlash but he stated that the goal was to find a “balance in which nominees, winners, members, and viewing audience all have a rewarding show experience”.

    “Moving forward we will assess this change and will continue to look for additional ways to make our show more entertaining and more thrilling for all involved, inside the Dolby Theatre and watching from home,” he added.

    As Rubin predicted, the decision was not taken well by the public with actors Melanie Lynskey and Patton Oswalt criticising the changes.

    “Don’t Look Up” star Lynskey said that she wants to see the winners of all 23 categories announced during the live telecast.

    “I love acceptance speeches. I love craftspeople being honoured for what they do. Production design is the category I’m most excited about this year (except for Best Actress because anything could happen!!) I want to see all of the awards #AcademyAwards” she tweeted.

    I love acceptance speeches. I love craftspeople being honoured for what they do. Production design is the category I’m most excited about this year (except for Best Actress because anything could happen!!) I want to see all of the awards #AcademyAwards
    — Melanie Lynskey (@melanielynskey) February 23, 2022
    Oswalt called the Academy’s move “dumb and disrespectful”.

    “NONE of these categories are being televised? You’re giving in to short-term ratings panic and forgetting what The Oscars are all about. PLEASE re-think this, and televise these categories. You’ll be bragging about having this footage in the future. BE about the future, not about the present, ephemeral froth of clicks and likes. Please,” he wrote in a thread on Twitter.

    Many social media users also voiced their disappointment over the changes.

    Using the hashtag #PresentAll23, one user wrote, “I can’t wait until ABC and the academy board realise that most people do not give a single f**k about awards, including the #Oscars.

    It’s our little bubble and the industry that care the most. This decision is 50 shades of STUPID.

    “Another person tweeted, “Wow it’s almost like the Oscars aren’t really about honoring quality filmmaking and are just about celebrities and PR.”

    One Twitterati called the changes “the ultimate insult to the art of filmmaking”.

    “Without score, makeup, hair, editing, sound, production design you would have nothing. Why distort the show? ARE YOU REALLY going to Edit Joe Walker and Hank Corwin and Myron Kerstein? #Oscars” the person wrote.

    This is not the first time that the Academy has attempted at bumping certain categories out of the live broadcast.

    In 2018, the AMPAS had announced that four Oscar awards would be presented during commercial breaks for the 91st Academy Awards.

    At the time, filmmakers Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro were among those who had criticised the organisation for the decision.

    Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer and Regina Hall will host the 94th edition of the Academy Awards, which will be held on March 27.