The REAL CRIME-
Will stepped on Questlove's shine!
The Oscar win for "Summer of Soul" ain't even being talked about!
Per IUSA Today, the legal mumbo jumbo...
Can Will Smith face assault charges?
Smith's slap was assault and battery under California law, and any watching police officer in the building could have immediately removed Smith from the stage, according to legal analyst Aron Solomon, who says he checked California statutes after the incident witnessed by millions.
"The immediate question (online) is was it a crime, and statutorily it's clear it was assault and battery – there was actual physical contact – and that's a misdemeanor," says Solomon, chief legal analyst for Esquire Digital in Philadelphia, which helps lawyers grow their practices. "Generally both are punishable by a fine of $2,000 and up to six months in county jail."
If Rock decides to press criminal charges, prosecutors would then have to decide whether to pursue what's called a "wobbler," an offense that toggles between a misdemeanor and a felony. If Smith's target had been, say, a police officer rather than a fellow entertainer, a prosecutor could make the case that this was a more "aggressive" offense, Solomon says.
But if Rock doesn't press charges, a prosecution may be unlikely.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released a statement on Twitter saying it “does not condone violence of any form.”
Can the academy rescind Smith's Oscar?
It's unlikely, Solomon says, although that would depend on the contractual terms and conditions of its awards process.
So far, the academy has not rescinded director Roman Polanski's 2003 Oscar for "The Pianist," although it expelled him from the academy in 2018, decades after he pleaded guilty to statutory rape in a plea bargain in the late 1970s and fled the country.
Even if Rock declines to file a criminal complaint, he could file a civil suit against Smith – and he has up to two years to do so if he later finds he has suffered either a physical injury or reputational injury or both, Solomon says.
What are the repercussions for Smith and Rock?
No matter what happens (or doesn't) in court, the slap was bad for both men, for the academy and for the movies, Solomon says.
"It hurts Chris Rock for using poor judgment for making a bad joke that crossed the line, and it hurts Will Smith because (he responded with) violence," Solomon says, although he wonders if the level of outrage being expressed online would be the same if it were two white movie stars in a similar wrangle.
The slap "dishonored the film ("King Richard"), it dishonored Venus and Serena Williams, it dishonored Questlove (whose best documentary Oscar immediately afterward was overshadowed), it dishonored the academy – there are so many aspects to this that no matter how you slice and dice it there's nothing good that comes from it."
Will stepped on Questlove's shine!
The Oscar win for "Summer of Soul" ain't even being talked about!
Per IUSA Today, the legal mumbo jumbo...
Can Will Smith face assault charges?
Smith's slap was assault and battery under California law, and any watching police officer in the building could have immediately removed Smith from the stage, according to legal analyst Aron Solomon, who says he checked California statutes after the incident witnessed by millions.
"The immediate question (online) is was it a crime, and statutorily it's clear it was assault and battery – there was actual physical contact – and that's a misdemeanor," says Solomon, chief legal analyst for Esquire Digital in Philadelphia, which helps lawyers grow their practices. "Generally both are punishable by a fine of $2,000 and up to six months in county jail."
If Rock decides to press criminal charges, prosecutors would then have to decide whether to pursue what's called a "wobbler," an offense that toggles between a misdemeanor and a felony. If Smith's target had been, say, a police officer rather than a fellow entertainer, a prosecutor could make the case that this was a more "aggressive" offense, Solomon says.
But if Rock doesn't press charges, a prosecution may be unlikely.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released a statement on Twitter saying it “does not condone violence of any form.”
Can the academy rescind Smith's Oscar?
It's unlikely, Solomon says, although that would depend on the contractual terms and conditions of its awards process.
So far, the academy has not rescinded director Roman Polanski's 2003 Oscar for "The Pianist," although it expelled him from the academy in 2018, decades after he pleaded guilty to statutory rape in a plea bargain in the late 1970s and fled the country.
Even if Rock declines to file a criminal complaint, he could file a civil suit against Smith – and he has up to two years to do so if he later finds he has suffered either a physical injury or reputational injury or both, Solomon says.
What are the repercussions for Smith and Rock?
No matter what happens (or doesn't) in court, the slap was bad for both men, for the academy and for the movies, Solomon says.
"It hurts Chris Rock for using poor judgment for making a bad joke that crossed the line, and it hurts Will Smith because (he responded with) violence," Solomon says, although he wonders if the level of outrage being expressed online would be the same if it were two white movie stars in a similar wrangle.
The slap "dishonored the film ("King Richard"), it dishonored Venus and Serena Williams, it dishonored Questlove (whose best documentary Oscar immediately afterward was overshadowed), it dishonored the academy – there are so many aspects to this that no matter how you slice and dice it there's nothing good that comes from it."
