The Tony Awards productions sent a letter to potential attendees with a stern warning in its FAQ section addressing violent physical exchanges. The warning clearly states- “The Tony Awards has a strict no violence policy. In the event of an incident, the perpetrator will be removed from the event immediately.”
This is, without doubt, a strong message to prevent the incident that happened at the Oscars- the slap from Will Smith to Chris Rock from recurring.
Keep Your Hands to Yourselves
…except to reach for your award.
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The Tony Awards will take place on June 12, 2022, at Radio City Music Hall and will air live on CBS and Paramount Plus. The producers include a new no-violence policy, among other rules such as the compulsory provision of Covid vaccination proof, black-tie only, and non-transferable tickets.
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This 75th Annual Tony Awards will be hosted by Audra McDonald and Leslie Odom Jr. The Tony Awards is a distinguished feat in American theatre and speaks many years of class. Hence the organizers urge all attendees to discard any ideas of getting physically violent with anyone at the event.
Why Did Will Smith Slap Chris Rock?
This year’s Oscars caused a stir, not just because fans got to watch their favorite celebrities get recognized or because of the glamorous fashion dazzles that were brought to the table, but because American actor Will Smith, also known by his stage name Fresh Prince walked up to the stage to slap Chris Rock, who was a host at the awards ceremony.
Chris Rock had made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, Will’s wife, who was sitting in the audience. The joke was about her shaved head; he said, “Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you.”
Jada rolled her eyes at the joke, and while Smith appeared to laugh before walking up the stage to give the comedian Chris a slap across the face. The shocked Chris exclaimed to the audience, “Wow, Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.” Will, clearly not finished, yelled back at Chris to “Keep his wife’s name out of his f***ing mouth.”
Will Apologizes to Chris Rock
A day after the fracas, Will took to Instagram to apologize publicly. The 53-year-old actor apologized to Chris, describing his action as “unacceptable” and “inexcusable.”
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line, and I was wrong. I’m embarrassed, and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. He wrote that there is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.” he wrote.
Will Smith Is Banned from The Oscars for the Next Decade
As a consequence of his actions, Smith is not allowed the attend the Oscars for the next ten years. However, after the incident that Sunday night, the actor went home with an award for best actor. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel had something to say about this as he had hosted the Oscars in 2017 and 2018.
“Usually, when someone’s asked to leave and refuses to go, that’s when security comes in and takes that person away. But in this case, they decided to give him an Oscar and let him back on stage to speak,” he said. While accepting his award, he apologized to the Academy on stage- but not Chris at the time.
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