Will Smith may be asked to hand back his Best Actor statuette following his live onstage assault of Chris Rock, industry insiders told The Post.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which handed out awards Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, has strict guidelines in its code of conduct.
One highly placed Hollywood source told The Post after the incident: “It’s basically assault. Everyone was just so shocked in the room, it was so uncomfortable.”
“I think Will would not want to give his Oscar back, but who knows what will happen now,” the insider said.
Meanwhile, the Academy cryptically announced from its official Twitter account: “The Academy does not condone violence of any form. Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”
Smith was seen laughing and posing with photos following his win, as industry bigwigs like Judd Apatow took aim.
“Knocked Up” director Apatow was highly critical of Smith in a now-deleted tweet: “He could have killed him. That’s pure out of control rage and violence. They’ve heard a million jokes about them in the last three decades. They are not freshman in the world of Hollywood and comedy. He lost his mind.”
TV comic Fortune Feimster tweeted: “Someone in the audience charged the stage Friday night during my opener’s set and attempted to throw the speaker, started taking swings at the people trying to stop her and pushed down a security guard. It’s scary times. So, no, I don’t find someone getting hit on stage amusing.”
