Oscar winner Ron Howard expresses disappointment over Will Smith & Chris Rock's feud

The 94th Academy Awards are garnering widespread attention owing to Will Smith's altercation with comedian Chris Rock. The instance has drawn reactions from who's who of the global entertainment fraternity as well as the Academy itself as they held a formal review on the matter. 

Responding to the infamous incident, Oscar winner Ron Howard, who was witnessing the award ceremony on television, termed it “very upsetting.” During a panel for FX’s upcoming drama Under The Banner of Heaven, Howard mentioned that he was in for a shock with 'this kind of behaviour,' adding that he's looking forward to the Academy's decision on the matter. 

Ron Howard expresses disappointment over Will Smith and Chris Rock's feud

According to Deadline, Howard stated, "These are people I’m very friendly with and I was shocked. I wouldn’t have expected this kind of behaviour." He continued," I’m not on the Academy board and I can’t speak for their process but I do know them and they will be very, very thoughtful. I will be curious to see what sort of decisions they make.”

Howard's longtime collaborator Brian Grazer also shared his thoughts on the altercation, calling it an 'unfortunate' detraction from the main event. "I produced the Oscars one year and I think it’s a celebration to the artists… and it should only focus on that,” he mentioned and added, "It’s unfortunate it detracted from that."

Academy begins disciplinary proceedings against Will Smith

Meanwhile, the Academy's board of governors held a meeting recently to discuss the disciplinary actions to be taken against Smith for breaking the code of conduct. It further gave Smith a chance to offer an explanation in a written response before April 18, when the board meets again. 

In its statement, The Academy mentioned, "We would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognize we could have handled the situation differently.” Further issuing an apology to Chris and the audiences, they added,"Mr. Rock, we apologize to you for what you experienced on our stage and thank you for your resilience in that moment. We also apologize to our nominees, guests and viewers for what transpired during what should have been a celebratory event.”

(IMAGE: AP)