When the Oscars drama first happened, Jada Pinkett Smith was initially very supportive of her husband, Will Smith. She shared a text post on her Instagram that read, “This is a season for healing and I’m here for it.”
According to a source that spoke with Us Weekly, Jada isn’t “angry” with Will, but she did wish the whole thing never happened.
“It was in the heat of the moment and it was him overreacting. He knows that, she knows that. They’re in agreement that he overreacted,” they told the outlet.
During his acceptance speech, Will added that Denzel Washington told him, “At your highest moment, be careful—that’s when the devil comes for you.”
According to The Sun, Chris Rock was offered an “after care package” to cope with what happened. The comedian will not press charges for the incident, since everyone seemed relatively fine.
“The Academy publicly condemned Will slapping Chris and behind the scenes they went into full crisis mode,” a source told the outlet. “Once the ceremony was over the called in key members to hold an emergency meeting about what action they should take. There have been calls to have Will stripped of his Best Actor gong.”
The source claimed the Academy wanted to ensure they are not condoning violence of any kind.
“They cannot be seen to be condoning violence in any way and there are some people in the Academy who believe they should remove the award from him to make a point,” they added. “Others however believe he should be allowed to hold onto it. Chris was immediately supported backstage and has been offered a package of aftercare where he can talk to professionals provided by the Academy if needed.”
It would be incredibly serious to strip Will of his Oscar, especially considering this is his first win after numerous nominations. During his acceptance speech, he did immediately apologize to the Academy and everyone in attendance.
“I want to apologize to the Academy… I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees,” he said at the end of his speech. “Art imitates life, I look like the crazy father, just like what they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”
After the show, the Academy tweeted, “The Academy does not condone violence of any form. Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”
The following day, the Academy openly condemned Will's behavior.