Right now calls are ringing out for Will Smith's removal, not just from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences but also for his Oscar for violating The Academy's code of conduct.
According to The Academy, the code of conduct is meant to...emphasizes the importance of “upholding the Academy’s values,” like inclusion, fostering supportive environments, and “respect for human dignity.”
Let's take a look at incidents and events in Oscars history that violate The Academy's code of conduct, and this writer's opinion a lot worse than a slap on the face.
Hattie McDaniel
Even though it was leaked that she would win Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in Gone With the Wind, Hattie McDaniel originally wasn't allowed to go to the Oscars, and when she got the opportunity to go she had to sit in a surrogated section of the theater away from her white co-stars. Since the 1960s McDaniel's award has gone missing and the Academy had yet to replace it.
John Wayne and Clint Eastwood
In 1973, Marlon Brando would boycott the Oscars due to Hollywood's negative portrayal of Native Americans and support Wounded Knee. He would ask Native American actress, Sacheen Littlefeather, to accept his Best Actor award for his performance in The Godfather. Littlefeather would be met with boos from the crowd as John Wayne had to be held back from attacking the Native American actress. The speech would bring attention to the Wounded Knee Standoff and later inspire Jada Pinkett Smith to boycott the 2016 Oscars for their lack of diversity.
Later that night she would be mocked by Clint Eastwood. Eastwood himself has a long history of racist statements and viewpoints not just in interviews but in his works. He would defend his support for a former President and demagogue by saying "When I grew up, those things [segregation, lynchings, social injustices, and derogatory epithets] weren’t called racist.”
John Wayne won Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1970 for True Grit.
Clint Eastwood won Best Picture and Best Director twice for Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Harvey Weinstein
During his years of sexual abuse and sexual harassment, Harvey Weinstein and the Weinstein Company won a total of 81 Oscars. In 1999, Weinstein won Best Picture with Shakespeare in Love.
Woody Allen
Mia Farrow would find nude photos of her adopted daughter in Woody Allen's home. Woody Allen would later tell her that he had taken the photos the day before, two weeks after he first had sex with the child. Allen would later go on to marry the child in 1997.
Also in 92, Mia Farrow would sue Allen for sexual abuse of her daughter, after he was found by a babysitter "kneeling on the floor, facing her, with his head in her lap as she sat on the couch." Yale-New Haven Hospital stated that there was no evidence to say that sexual abuse took place but they would go on to say that Allen's conduct with his then step-daughter was "grossly inappropriate"
Woody Allen has four Oscar wins to his name. In 1978 Annie Hall would win Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. He would also win original screenplay two more times with Hannah and Her Sisters (1987) and Midnight in Paris (2012).
Roman Polanski
In 1978, Roman Polanski fleed the country and return to France the day before he was to be sentenced to jail for the sexual assault of 13 year old. Polanski remains in France where he continues to make movies to this day. In 2003 The Academy awarded him Best Director for The Pianist.
Adrien Brody
Also during the 2003 Oscars, Adrien Brody would win Best Actor for his role in The Pianist. Brody would give Halle Berry, who was presenting the award, a kiss. In 2017 Berry admitted that she was shocked by the kiss and that it wasn’t planned at all.
To date, only Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski, and Bill Cosby have been expelled from the Academy. Weinstein’s and Polanski’s Oscar wins have yet to have been taken away.
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