Hey, I want to get off this topic as much as you probably do so I'll make this as short as I can…which will not be short enough.
If I haven't made it clear, I think what Will Smith did was — to use his own words in his too-little, too-late apology — "unacceptable and inexcusable." To let him get away with no formal punishment is to say that if you're rich or famous enough (he's both), the laws that apply to most of us don't apply to you.
My buddy Ken Levine has, as he often does, saved me the trouble of writing a longer post about this. Just read him. But I'm not as sure as he is that Smith's career is over and there's also this…
Ken and others have said that Smith should have been removed from the hall and not permitted to sit there, act like nothing had happened, and go up and accept his Oscar. Well, maybe. It would be fascinating to hear the conversation among those who had to converse about that option. What if he refused to go quietly? Were they prepared to have what could have been another physical altercation?
He might well have said, as he sat there awaiting the greatest honor of his life, "If you want me out of here, you'll have to drag me out." Even if it was done during a commercial, there was a huge live audience there to see it, some of whom were on Smith's side. We're talking here about dragging the real guy out of the Dolby Theater, not his stunt double.
Do you remove his wife along with him? What if she makes a scene? What if others get involved? The first concern of the police in a tense situation is to de-escalate the tension, not increase it.
So say he's removed. What happens when it's time to open the envelope in the Best Actor category? The folks who had to make the on-the-spot decision didn't know for sure Smith's name was in there but they knew it was pretty likely. You probably don't want to send someone out to say, "Will Smith couldn't be here right now because he's outside in police custody. The Academy accepts this award on his behalf."
It could have gotten even uglier in a hurry. Chris Rock seemed to be fine and at some point, he apparently said he didn't want to press charges or anything of the sort. That makes immediate action seem a bit less necessary. There are those who, when they're a victim in a crime but no lasting physical damage has been done, want to have it over with and forgotten, A.S.A.P.
So you might think, "The best thing is to not do anything now or without a lot of discussion and debate and checking with lawyers…because Will Smith can certainly afford the best." The Academy is not known for speedy decisions about anything or doing things to piss off the Big Stars and Big Studios that support the organization. Everyone there has to check with everyone else before they send out for pizza.
It's one of those moments when I'm glad I wasn't part of the decision on what to do. I still couldn't say what should be done now to Will Smith but I think someone ought to do something.