A full list of celebrities that have been banned from the Oscars 2024 has been released in preparation for Sunday’s 96th awards ceremony.
The Oscars are regarded as the most prestigious awards in the entertainment industry and come around every year around the beginning of March.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science has created a list that has banned those who have violated their code of conduct for various reasons.
Will Smith is the latest celebrity to be added to the list following the infamous moment he slapped comedian Chris Rock across the face during the 2022 Oscars.
Will Smith, 55, was banned from the Academy Awards in April 2022 after he slapped Chris Rock across the face during the show
A list of the banned celebrities is below:
Will Smith
During the 94th Academy Awards, Rock was presenting the Oscar for Best Documentary during the event at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood when he joked about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
He compared her to the bald look of Demi Moore in the 1997 movie G.I. Jane. Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia and did not laugh at the joke.
Smith then approached the stage and slapped Rock hard across the face with his right hand.
‘Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me,’ Rock said from the stage after being hit.
Smith returned to his seat next to his wife after the outburst and yelled: ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!’
On April 8 it was announced that Smith was banned from the Oscars for 10 years for slapping Rock, but was allowed to keep his award for Best Actor.
Smith, 55, said that he ‘accepted’ and ‘respected’ the academy’s decision to ban him both in person and virtually from the awards.
Smith said that he ‘accepted’ and ‘respected’ the academy’s decision to ban him both in person and virtually from the awards for 10 years
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein was banned from the academy in 2017 after his slue sexual abuse allegations.
He was later convicted for crimes that dated back decades and was sentenced to 23 years in jail at Wende Correctional Facility in New York.
The once powerful media mogul, 71, was found guilty of rape and two other counts of sexual assault at a trial in Los Angeles in December 2023 after previously being sentenced in 2020 for sex crimes in New York City.
In response, the Academy said that Weinstein’s actions were ‘repugnant, abhorrent, and antithetical to the high standards of the academy and the creative community it represents.’
He was also suspended by the British Academy Film Awards and dropped from his production company.
Harvey Weinstein, 71, was banned from the academy in 2017 after his slue sexual abuse allegations
Bill Cosby
Actor and comedian Bill Cosby was barred from the awards ceremony for life in 2018 after he was convicted of sexual assault.
Cosby, 86, was convicted in April 2018 of drugging and sexually assaulting basketball coach, Andrea Constand, in 2004.
He was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, but only served three years of his sentence before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the conviction.
He was released on June 30, 2021 and was seen for the first time since his release out and about in New York City in April 2023.
‘The Board continues to encourage ethical standards that require members to uphold the Academy’s values of respect for human dignity,’ the Academy said in a statement after his conviction and ban from the show.
Bill Cosby, 86, was barred from the awards ceremony for life in 2018 after he was convicted of sexual assault
Adam Kimmel
Cinematographer Adam Kimmel, 64, was banned from the Academy in 2021 for his history of sex crimes.
After he was arrested twice for statutory assault on minors, he was blacklisted by the Academy for violating their code of conduct.
Kimmel, who worked on hit films like Capote, Never Let Me Go and Beautiful Girls is a registered sex offender who pleaded guilty to raping a 15-year-old girl when he was 43 in 2003 before going on to have a budding Hollywood career.
They had sex at least ten times in August 2003 in New York City. He pleaded guilty to rape the following year but still maintains the sex was consensual ‘with someone under the age of consent’.
Cinematographer Adam Kimmel (left) was banned from the Academy in 2021 for his history of sex crimes
Roman Polanski
French Polish director Roman Polanski was expelled from the Academy for life in 2018 after he had sexual intercourse with a minor.
Polanski fled the US in 1977 and made his way to France after pleading guilty to the crime.
He received five Academy nominations and won Best Director for his biological Holocaust war drama, The Pianist, despite not physically being able to attend the ceremony as he was wanted by US authorities.
Since his lifetime ban, Polanski has not been nominated or allowed to attend the Oscars.
French Polish director Roman Polanski was expelled from the Academy for life in 2018 after he had sexual intercourse with a minor
Carmine Caridi
Actor Carmine Caridi was the first person to be permanently banned by the Academy in 2004.
The Godfather Part II and Part III star, who died in 2019 at 85, was expelled for illegally circulating approximately 60 VHS tapes of future movies to his friend Russell Sprague.
The FBI investigated his crimes and he was slapped with an infringement lawsuit by Sony and Warner Bros.
Actor Carmine Caridi was the first person to be permanently banned by the Academy in 2004 after he illegally circulated around 60 VHS tapes of future movies to his friend Russell Sprague
Sprague posted copies of the films online but died during his legal proceedings of a heart attack.
Caridi was eventually cleared of all wrongdoing but the Academy stood their ground and banned him for violating his agreement to safeguard their screeners.
Richard Gere
Richard Gere was banned from the Oscars in 1993 for 20 years after he went off-script during a speech and criticized the ‘horrendous, horrendous human rights situation’ in Tibet.
He attended the ceremony with his then supermodel wife Cindy Crawford and during his speech, he also spoke about he leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Deng Xiaoping.
Richard Gere was banned from the Oscars in 1993 for 20 years after he went off-script during a speech and criticized the ‘horrendous, horrendous human rights situation’ in Tibet. His ban was removed in 2003
After a decade, the Academy decided to free the Pretty Woman star of his ban and allowed him to attend in 2003 when the Chicago musical that he starred in was nominated for awards.
He went on to present at the awards in 2013 and told the Huffington Post that he was ‘rehabilitated.’
‘It seems if you stay around long enough, they forget they’ve banned you,’ he added.