2 years after Smith slap, here are other famous names who have been banned from the Oscars

WASHINGTON (TND) — It was the slap heard around the world.

Sunday marks almost two years since Will Smith slapped Academy Awards host Chris Rock onstage after Rock made a joke about Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith, one of the most shocking moments in Oscars history.

"Jada, I love you. 'G.I. Jane 2,' can't wait to see it," Rock said during the 2022 ceremony, alluding toPinkett Smith's shaved head. She has spoken publicly about her alopecia,a disease that causes hair loss.

Smith suddenly strode to the stage, slapped Rock across the face and returned to his seat. He later accepted an Oscar for "King Richard."

As a result, Smith resigned from the Academy and received a 10-year ban.

Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive," he said March 28 on Instagram, a day after the infamous slap. "My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally."

Smith apologized to Rock in the post, saying, "I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness."

The 96th Academy Awards are slated to start at 7 p.m. EDT Sunday night, with flicks like "Oppenheimer" and "Killers of the Flower Moon" expected to win big.

Here are some other famous names who have been banned from the Oscars in years past.

RICHARD GERE

Actor Richard Gere took the stage at the 1993 Academy Awards as a presenter for Best Art Direction. He immediately went off-topic, ignoring the teleprompter and instead speaking about the annexation of Tibet by the Chinese government. He even called out Chinese Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping.

Gere, who starred in "Pretty Woman" and "Chicago," was banned from the awards show for the next 20 years.

It appears the ban didn’t stick, though, as he attended the ceremony in 2003 as a member of the “Chicago” cast when it was nominated for Best Picture. He was invited back again in 2013 as a presenter.

"Apparently, I've been rehabilitated,” Gere told HuffPost UK in 2013. “It seems if you stay around long enough, they forget they've banned you."

HARVEY WEINSTEIN

Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was expelled from the Oscars in 2017 after sexual assault allegations against him began to surface.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' Board of Governors condemned Weinstein and said it hoped the actionwould "send a message that the era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behavior and workplace harassment in our industry is over."

In 2020, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault in New York. In February 2023, he was sentenced to another 16 years by a Los Angeles judge.

ROMAN POLANSKI

Filmmaker Roman Polanski, known for directing movies like "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby," was expelled by the academy in 2018 after years of sexual assault allegations against him had been mounting.

He pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. Polanski fled the country in 1978 on the eve of his sentencing and has lived in exile in Europe ever since. He has continued to receive Academy nominations and won an Oscar for Best Director in 2002 for "The Pianist."

Several women have accused Polanski of sexual assault over the years, and the filmmaker is still considered a fugitive by the U.S. criminal justice system.

BILL COSBY

Actor Bill Cosby was expelled from the academy in 2018 at the same time as Polanski after being convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman.

In a statement, the Academy said its board "has voted to expel actor Bill Cosby and director Roman Polanski from its membership in accordance with the organisation's Standards of Conduct."

Cosby spent almost three years in prison before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction and he was released in 2021. The court said Cosby's due process rights were violated.

He is most known for his role as Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable in the "The Cosby Show," which aired from 1984 to 1992.