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Will Smith took home the Oscar for best actor shortly after he slapped presenter Chris Rock across the face. The move by the 53-year-old actor left viewers stunned and the lack of acknowledgement by the Academy confused many.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which is the organization behind the Oscars, is responding to the controversial fight between Will Smith and Chris Rock during the show.

his Best Actor gong 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.”Smith was seen laughing and posing with photos following his win, as industry bigwigs like Judd Apatow hit out.“Knocked Up” director Apatow was highly critical of Smith in a now-deleted tweet: “He could have killed him.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorDespite James Cameron, Jane Campion and Guillermo Del Toro speaking out against the Academy’s decision to pre-record eight of the craft categories, their plea to reconsider is falling on deaf ears.With the 94th Academy Awards less than two weeks away, artisans impacted by the decision are still feeling like second-class citizens. The news was delivered to the nominees via a Zoom town hall that Academy Award nominated editor Hank Corwin (“Don’t Look Up”) happened to miss.

EXCLUSIVE: Voicing his concern and disappointment over the Motion Picture Academy’s controversial decision to move the presentation of eight categories to the hour before the actual ABC Oscar telecast begins at 5 p.m. PT on March 27, Steven Spielberg has become the most powerful voice yet to express his opposition to the idea.

Clayton Davis Will Packer, the producer of this year’s Oscars telecast, has responded to the artisans community’s outcry about the decision to pre-record eight craft categories.During an interview with Variety, the Hollywood producer behind box office hits like “Girls Trip” says he is setting out to make a fun and engaging telecast for all viewers, while sharing he has the utmost respect and compassion for all artisans in the industry. Still, he stands by the decision to pre-tape eight categories and weave them into the live telecast.“I think it was the right decision,” Packer says.

Oscars ceremony.During his acceptance speech for the Filmmaking Achievement Award from the Hollywood Critics Association, del Toro called out the decision to move eight categories to a slot an hour before the live broadcast and re-edit them into the show.Speaking at the ceremony, the director said: “We don’t do [movies] alone, we do them together, and the people that made them with us, they were risking everything in a pandemic.“If any year was the year to think about it, this is not the year not to hear their names live at the Oscars. This is the year to say it – and say it loud.”Encouraging others to speak out against the change, he added: “Many of you that have a voice and that can say it should say, ‘We should not do that.’ We shouldn’t do it this year.

Clayton Davis Oscars leaders are trying to clarify and justify their decision to move eight categories from the live telecast and ensure that the nominees don’t feel sidelined.“The board has discussed and agreed on the need to make changes to the broadcast, to allow for a celebratory show that also doesn’t ​run well over ​three hours,” says Dawn Hudson, CEO of the Academy, in an interview with Deadline. “That discussion has been ongoing but with more urgency for this year’s show.

J. Kim Murphy The Set Decorators Society of America has penned an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expressing its “extreme disappointment” regarding the decision to not broadcast certain categories — best production design, particularly — live during this year’s Oscars ceremony.The letter, addressed to Academy president David Rubin, CEO Dawn Hudson, the AMPAS board executive committee and the AMPAS awards committee, expresses solidarity with other branches that the “Academy has elected to demote from equal recognition” during its upcoming ceremony.“The diminution of these specific awards, which you declare to be ‘the fat in need of trimming’ from the broadcast in order to make it more entertaining, is punitive not only to the individual artists singled out for this treatment, but to entire industries represented by each one, who take enormous pride in their part in the creation of each nominated and winning film in the Academy competition,” the letter reads.

The plan by Oscars organizers to trim eight categories from being presented live onstage during next month’s telecast has raised the ire of the Set Decorators Society of America, the latest Hollywood group decrying the moves.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterA week ago, Oscar nominees from branches including editing, sound, and makeup and hair were invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a virtual town hall. They assumed, according to one individual who attended the Tuesday event, that the meeting was being called to discuss COVID-19 protocols for Hollywood’s biggest night.Instead, they were informed that their categories would not air live on the telecast, said the source (a current nominee who agreed to speak with Variety on the condition of anonymity).

Oscars were watched by the fewest amount of people on record. Ratings plunged to historic new lows when only 10. 4 million people tuned into 2021's show.

Wilson Chapman editorThe Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced its plans for the third annual Global Movie Day on Saturday.Global Movie Day, which was established in 2020 and is celebrated every second Saturday of February, was created as a way for film fans around the world to celebrate their love of film by engaging with Academy members and filmmakers on social media, using the hashtag #GlobalMovieDay.This year, celebrities and filmmakers who will participate in Global Movie Day include Zazie Beetz, Halle Berry, Jason Blum, Kris Bowers, Patricia Cardoso, Cher, Jon M. Chu, Ariana DeBose, Ali Fazal, Danny Glover, Eiza González, Tom Hanks, Aldis Hodge, Scarlett Johansson, Marc Maron, Marlee Matlin, Matthew McConaughey, Michelle Rodriguez, J.K.

Clayton Davis Ahead of the Oscar nominations announcement, the Academy CEO is touting the largest turnout of voters of its nearly 10,000-person membership in its 94-year history.Following the close of Oscar nomination voting, which ended Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. PT, Dawn Hudson, Academy CEO, sent an email to the membership to praise its “highest ever participation during voting at any time in the Academy’s history.”Hudson also noted in the letter that ballots were submitted from 82 countries, among the 9,487 members that were eligible to participate in voting.

In a letter to members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences today, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said the organization had the “highest ever participation during voting at any time in the Academy’s history”.  She notes ballots were submitted from 82 countries (from 9487 eligible voters who could participate)  and makes a continued plug to use the Academy Screening Room for viewing contenders and “extra” content  going forward in the season, especially since this the first year physical DVD screeners have been banned, mostly for environmental concerns.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has promoted Jennifer Davidson to be its new chief communications officer. The news was announced Thursday by Academy CEO Dawn Hudson.

Demonstrating faith in the successful publicity strategies engineered since she joined AMPAS in 2020 just as the pandemic lockdown took hold, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences has promoted Jennifer Davidson to Chief Communications Officer.  Academy CEO Dawn Hudson, to whom she will continue to report, made the announcement today.

Angelique Jackson After a decade as CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Dawn Hudson announced Monday that her current term will be her last.Hudson joined the Academy as CEO in 2011 and will relinquish her post when her contract ends in May 2023.

Dawn Hudson, the longtime CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will not seek an additional term when her current contract ends in May 2023, the Academy announced on Monday.  Hudson took the position in the summer of 2011, after the retirement of Bruce Davis, the Academy’s longtime executive director.

The Candid service, which monitors nonprofits, just recently posted a Form 990 tax filing from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020, and the news was good for top Academy officers: Salaries were up across the board.

Bahman Ghobadi, the exiled Iranian filmmaker who has won prizes at Cannes, Berlin, San Sebastian and many other international festivals, has penned a letter to the Film Academy saying, “It would be great if we could have one representative from exiled artists.”

AMPAS CEO Dawn Hudson on Friday assured members in an email that the Academy Museum opening is still on schedule for September 30. She also said the museum at the beginning would be operating at 50% capacity during business hours, and masks will be required for all indoor spaces. Of course the Academy is emphasizing safety measures in light of the continuing pandemic and Delta variant surge which continues to wreak havoc with show-business-as-usual.

Clayton Davis The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sent ripples through the industry Tuesday with the announcement of new diversity and representation requirements for best picture beginning in 2024.

By Marc Malkin

The 2021 Oscars are finally going with flow — of streaming movies.

By Pete Hammond

By Pete Hammond