People Are Comparing Will Smith’s 10-Year Oscar Ban To How Other Problematic Actors Were Dealt With

The Academy has not ostracized Mel Gibson, who has been accused of anti-Semitism and domestic violence. The actor who has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women won an Oscar.

People criticized how long it took the Academy to expel disgraced celebrities such as Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, and Roman Polanski who had been accused of sexual assault.

The Academy offered Polanski's wife an invitation to join the organization in 2018, but she turned it down.

TikTok user Sharika Soal accused Hollywood of allowing white celebrities to build careers without consequences.

I don't know if it's racism or classism, but it's so blatant and hard to process. She said that she was disgusted by the Academy's lack of action against directors like Woody Allen, who married his daughter.

She said that there are men like Woody Allen who are pedophiles who can't be punished for hitting someone onstage.

The Academy's actions towards Smith came down to the fact that the slap was televised, according to Dr.Courtney Baker, an African American studies and film professor at the University of California Riverside.

The biggest issue for the Academy is that the slap happened on camera. The 10-year ban is more about that than anything else.

Other instances of inappropriate behavior were shared by online users. The Academy didn't face any heat when he grabbed and kissed Halle Berry without her consent while accepting his 2003 Oscar for Best actor. Berry described her only thought in that moment as "What the fuck is happening?"