In The Know

Tony Awards sends no violence warning after Oscars slap

Producers of the upcoming Tony Awards have sent a warning about violence in the wake of the infamous Oscars slap, Deadline reported.

Tony Award Productions reportedly sent a letter to potential ceremony attendees to point out its policies.

“The Tony Awards has a strict no violence policy,” an FAQ portion of the letter read. “In the event of an incident, the perpetrator will be removed from the event immediately.”

Tony Awards Productions did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

The warning comes weeks after Will Smith made headlines when he took to the stage during last month’s Academy Awards ceremony and struck comedian Chris Rock in the face after he made a joke about Smith’s wife, actor Jada Pinkett Smith.


Smith was not removed from the venue after the slap; however, conflicting reports emerged following the May 27 incident about whether he was firmly asked to leave or not.

During a board meeting earlier this month, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences voted to ban the actor from attending any Academy events for 10 years.

The Academy Awards, the Board said in a statement, were “meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year; however, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage.”

Smith has since issued a public apology, but Rock has remained generally quiet on the subject, saying during a standup appearance last month that he was “still kind of processing” the incident.