Day: March 28, 2022

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued a formal statement Monday condemning Will Smith’s behavior for slapping comedian Chris Rock and announced it was initiating an investigation.

Smith slapped Rock across the face during a live broadcast of the 94th Academy Awards ceremony Sunday after the comedian made a joke about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, poking fun at her shaved head.

“The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night’s show,” the statement said. “We … will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our bylaws, standards of conduct and California law.”

According to the Academy’s code of conduct, such consequences could entail “suspension of membership or expulsion from membership.”

In recent years, violations of this code have led to the removal of members such as Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski, who were expelled over allegations of sexual misconduct.

Rock did not file a police report.

“LAPD investigative entities are aware of an incident between two individuals during the Academy Awards program. The incident involved one individual slapping another. The individual involved has declined to file a police report,” said the LAPD in an official statement to the press. “If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report.”

Ahead of presenting the award for best documentary, Rock directed a comment to Pinkett Smith saying: “Jada, I love you. ‘G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it,” apparently drawing a comparison to actress Demi Moore’s shaved hairstyle in the 1997 movie “G.I. Jane.”

While Pinkett Smith was shown rolling her eyes following the comment, her husband walked over to the stage and slapped Rock across the face during the live broadcast, a moment that went viral shortly after.

After taking his seat again, Smith directed profanity at the comedian, demanding he not speak of his wife.

Pinkett Smith, 50, has previously been vocal about her struggles with hair loss due to the autoimmune disease alopecia. She publicly shared her diagnosis in 2018 during a segment of her Facebook talk show series Red Table Talk.

Initially, the Academy had only issued a statement via its Twitter account after the ceremony ended.

“The Academy does not condone violence of any form,” the tweet said.

Later Sunday evening, Smith was awarded an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Richard Williams, the father of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, in the film “King Richard.”

During his acceptance speech, Smith appeared emotional and apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees, but did not directly mention Rock.

“Love will make you do crazy things,” Smith said, addressing his behavior.

“Thank you. I hope the Academy invites me back.”

Source: Voice of America

Australia’s 11-year-old carbon credit scheme aims to reward farmers, landholders and other businesses to store carbon in trees, the soil or to use different methods to cut emissions.

For every ton of greenhouse gases stored or prevented, projects registered under Australia’s official $3.4 billion Emissions Reduction Fund receive a carbon credit. The credit is essentially a certificate or permit allowing the holder to emit a ton of greenhouse gas.

Most credits have been bought by the government in Canberra, while a growing number are privately traded by companies wanting to offset their own emissions.

However, new research has uncovered alleged widespread inconsistencies in the system.

The study was undertaken by Australian National University law professor Andrew Macintosh, who was involved in the development of the initial scheme.

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that most of the credits do not represent a real or extra carbon abatement.

“What we have got happening at the moment is a collection of things across a range of methods; issuing credits to not clear forests that were never going to be cleared, to issue credits for growing trees that simply are not there, or issuing credits for growing trees that are already there, or in the case of that landfill gas, giving people credits for capturing and combusting methane in circumstances where it would have been done anyway because it is commercially viable to do it,” he said.

Macintosh has called for the entire program to be scrapped and for the process to start again from scratch.

In response, Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator, which runs the initiative, said it would assess the research.

It has, however, insisted the projects it manages are carefully monitored. The regulator rejected assertions in the study that between 70 to 80% of the carbon credits issued were essentially worthless.

Australia’s center-right government pledged last year to deliver net zero emissions by 2050 “in a practical, responsible way…while preserving Australian jobs and generating new opportunities for industries.”

Campaigners, however, have argued that the government’s strong support for the fossil fuel industries is environmentally irresponsible.

Australia has high rates of per capita emissions in large part because of its reliance on coal for much of its electricity generation.

Source: Voice of America