Will Smith banned by Academy from attending Oscars for 10 years, actor issues statement

Will Smith will not be allowed to attend the Academy Awards for the next 10 years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced in a statement.

This comes after Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on-stage at the 94th Academy Awards on March 27.

However, Smith can still be nominated despite being barred from attending the Oscars because the standards of conduct rules at play ‘do not apply to awards eligibility’.

Meanwhile, Smith has accepted his ten-year ban from the Academy Awards. In a statement, the 53-year-old Best Actor winner from Oscar ceremonies this year said that he accepts and respects the Academy's decision.

Smith strode from his front row seat on to the Oscars stage and slapped Chris Rock after he made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's bald look at the awards ceremony. Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, an auto-immune disease that results in hair loss.

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