Actor Harry Lennix, who stars in NBC’s The Blacklist, is calling on Will Smith to forfeit his Oscar in order to “redeem the integrity” of the motion picture Academy.
He also blasted the Academy’s decision to ban Will Smith from official Academy events for ten years, describing it as a “toothless penalty that lays bare the shallowness of Hollywood morals.”
In a guest column for Variety, Harry Lennix urged Smith to make good for assaulting presenter Chris Rock on stage during the live Oscars telecast.
“At this point, the only person who can redeem the integrity of the Oscars is Smith himself,” Lennix wrote.
Will Smith Must Return His Oscar to Restore the Award’s Honor (Guest Column) https://t.co/wDaMvd87kh
— Variety (@Variety) April 9, 2022
“He needs to come to grips with the gravity of the offense he committed: slapping Rock, live on March 27 in front of millions on the Academy Awards stage. Smith needs to express-mail his golden trophy back to the Academy and publicly state something to the effect of: ‘Out of respect for the 94 years of honor conferred upon this award, I do not in good conscience feel worthy of being its custodian.'”
***LANGUAGE WARNING***
Lennix — who starred in Julie Taymor’s Titus — also slammed Smith for grandstanding during his Oscar acceptance speech.
“This attempt to explain his actions added to the travesty of this ethical catastrophe. In couching his acceptance speech as somehow submitting to the will of God, Smith abdicated personal accountability.”
Smith resigned his membership to the Academy a week after the Oscars. The Academy subsequently banned the actor for ten years, but didn’t ask him to return his Oscar.
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