Warning: This article discusses sensitive topics, including child abuse and sexual assault.

the best movies of all time.

Throughout the year, audiences started to form theories about which movies would be big winners at the Academy Awards, and predictions for the 2025 Oscars began within weeks after the 2024 event ended. However, it has only been in recent years that the Academy has banned public figures from attending their events and casting their votes. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has only excluded a few key individuals over the years for various reasons, such as reports of illegal activity and controversial actions during an Oscar ceremony.

The Academy has both banned and expelled individuals. Bans were temporary, and the person could return after a certain period of time. An expulsion, however, was permanent, and that person would never be allowed to be involved with the Academy or its events again.

8 Richard Gere

Banned For 20 Years In 1993

Established actor Richard Gere, whose filmography has included titles such as An Officer and a Gentleman, Pretty Woman, First Knight, and American Gigolo, was banned from the Academy in 1993. Gere was issued a 20-year ban after he gave a speech while he presented the award for Best Art Direction. As Gere addressed the audience, he used his platform to discuss the issues in Tibet and called out Deng Xiaoping, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party at that time. Gere told viewers that Xiaping needed to “allow people to live as free, independent people again.”

Despite his talent, Gere has never received an Oscar nomination.

The Academy found his speech controversial, and Richard Gere was banned from presenting at the Oscars in future ceremonies for two decades. However, the actor still attended as a guest in 2003 alongside his Chicago co-stars. Chicago received an incredible 13 Oscar nominations and won five, which included Catherine Zeta-Jones for Best ing Actress and producer Martin Richards for Best Picture. Gere returned to the ceremony after his ban was lifted in 2013 to introduce the Best Song nominee "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" performance by Norah Jones from the Ted soundtrack.

7 Carmine Caridi

Expelled In 2004

Carmine Caridi was the first person ever to be expelled from the Academy. The actor was best known as Carmine Rosato in The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III, although he also starred in more minor roles in movies such as 1978’s Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park and 1992’s Ruby. He also appeared as Dan Valenti in the TV show Phyllis from 1976 to 1977. Although Caridi did not receive an Academy Award nomination, he was an active Oscar voter. However, he only held this title for a short time.

An FBI investigation revealed that Caridi had shared unauthorized copies of several Oscar-nominated movies, including The Last Samurai, Mystic River, Big Fish, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and Something’s Gotta Give.

In January 2004, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that copies of multiple nominated titles were circulating illegally online. The Academy identified that a voter had leaked these films because of a defining watermark. An FBI investigation revealed that Caridi had shared unauthorized copies of several Oscar-nominated movies, including The Last Samurai, Mystic River, Big Fish, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and Something’s Gotta Give. According to the FBI’s findings, the actor had leaked screener versions of the films for nearly three years, which led to his expulsion.

Carmine Caridi ed away in May 2019 while in a coma.

6 Bill Cosby

Expelled In 2018

1990s comedy icon Bill Cosby was one of two people expelled from the Academy in 2018. Cosby started as a stand-up comedian, and his character “Fat Albert” led to the animated TV show Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. He famously portrayed Cliff Huxtable in The Cosby Show, which was the staple of his career. Cosby also starred in the 1960s TV shows I Spy and The Bill Cosby Show. Although Bill Cosby wasn’t generally a movie actor and didn’t receive an Oscar nomination during his career, he was an active member of the Actors Branch of the Academy.

Cosby’s alleged actions breached the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ code of conduct.

In 2018, several sexual assault allegations against Cosby came to light, which included a statement from comedy writer Joan Tarshis. Further reports of Cosby’s misconduct were made over the years, and some even came from ex-costars who were minors at the time. Cosby’s alleged actions breached the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ code of conduct. After the allegations against Bill Cosby became public knowledge, the organization permanently banned Cosby’s attendance or involvement with the Oscars. Although he faced repercussions for his crimes, including jail time, several of the sexual assault allegations fell outside the statutes of limitations.

5 Roman Polanski

Expelled In 2018

Polish Director Roman Polanski was also officially expelled from the Academy in 2018, although he hadn’t attended the ceremony in the decades before this. In 1978, Polanski left the United States after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old child. Although he had learned that the judge would likely offer him a plea bargain, Polanski fled and exiled himself to Europe. In the years following these events, Polanski continued his career in Europe despite further allegations against him being made.

Polanski could not accept his award in person, so Harrison Ford accepted it and presented it to him five months later at the Deauville Film Festival in .

During his career in the United States, Polanski received five Academy nominations but only won once – Best Director for The Pianist. Although reports about him were public knowledge, Polanski received a standing ovation at the 2003 Academy Awards. Polanski did not accept his Oscar in person, so Harrison Ford took it and presented it to him five months later at the Deauville Film Festival in . Despite the allegations, Polanski received Oscar nominations for The Pianist and Tess after his exile but wasn’t expelled from the Academy until the organization reflected on his actions decades later.

4 Harvey Weinstein

Expelled In 2017

In 2017, producer Harvey Weinstein was expelled from the Academy, dismissed from his production company, The Weinstein Company, and suspended from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts following several serious allegations made against him. Weinstein was one of Hollywood’s biggest names and influenced several areas of the film industry. Weinstein and his companies were behind huge cinematic titles like Pulp Fiction and Scream. As an individual, Weinstein only received two Oscar nominations: in 1999 for Best Picture for the film Shakespeare in Love, and again in 2003 for Gangs of New York.

Following the massive public response to these statements about Weinstein, the Academy issued the producer with a permanent expulsion.

However, Weinstein shared Shakespeare in Love’s win with several of his other co-producers. In 2017, The New York Times reported that dozens of women had accused Weinstein of various forms of sexual assault, including harassment and rape. Weinstein denied these allegations. Following the massive public response to these statements about Weinstein, the Academy issued the producer a permanent expulsion. In February 2023, Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the assaults in California. However, this didn’t include any other convictions Weinstein faced in New York and London, England.

3 Adam Kimmel

Expelled In 2021

Cinematographer Adam Kimmel’s filmography included movies like Never Let Me Go, Jesus’ Son, and Lars and the Real Girl. Despite his busy career, which began in 1987 with the music video for "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, Hollywood was unaware that Kimmel was a ed sex offender. Kimmel’s crimes happened before and after he ed the Academy’s cinematography branch in 2007, and reports against him ranged from 2003 to 2010. In 2020, Variety published an exposé about Kimmel, which contained allegations that stated Kimmel raped a minor multiple times in 2003.

In 2010, the same year that he worked on Never Let Me Go, he committed similar crimes against another minor.

Kimmel pleaded guilty in 2004 and was sentenced to 10 years of probation and listed on the sex offender registry. In 2010, the same year that he worked on Never Let Me Go, he allegedly committed similar crimes against another minor. He was arrested for fourth-degree sexual assault and failing to as a sex offender in Connecticut. When the organization was asked why Kimmel was allowed to in the first place, they replied that their hip was granted based on an “honor system.” In 2021, the Academy expelled Kimmel for his actions.

2 Will Smith

Banned For 10 Years In 2022

Will Smith famously went viral after slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. Smith attended the ceremony with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and the two sat together and waited to see whether he’d won the Best Actor award for his role as Richard Williams in the tennis biopic King Richard. This marked Smith’s third Oscar nomination, as he was previously nominated for his performances in 2001’s Ali and 2006’s The Pursuit of Happyness. Although Smith won Best Actor for King Richard, Chris Rock’s G.I. Jane joke about Jada dampened the moment, and led to Smith slapping the comedian.

Smith resigned from the Academy and released a statement acknowledging his public attack on Rock, but accepted full responsibility.

The U.S. stream attempted to mute this moment, but the slap aired fully in other countries across the world. Smith tried to apologize during his acceptance speech and told audiences that “love will make you do crazy things.” Despite this, Smith resigned from the Academy and released a statement acknowledging his public attack on Rock, accepting full responsibility. The Academy confirmed that Smith was banned from their events for ten years. Smith was due to present the Best Actress Award in 2023, but Halle Berry and Jessica Chastain replaced him. Smith cannot return to the Oscars until 2033.

Could Will Smith See His Ban Lifted?

Will Smith being banned from the Oscars for 10 years is a shocking outcome from one of the most controversial moments in Oscar history, but there is some question about how much the ban will be held up over the next two decades. While there are a lot of critics who have spoken out against Smith's behavior at the Oscars, it would be ridiculous to suggest that he is in the same category as criminally convicted people like Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby.

It is quite clear those people will never have a career in Hollywood again, even if they don't end up serving long prison sentences. However, in the case of Smith, Hollywood has already begun to embrace him once again. There was some question about how the fallout of the infamous slap would affect Smith's career, but the box office success of Bad Boys 4 helped establish Smith's comeback. When more time es and the incident fades a little more from memory, Smith could make a return to the Oscars before his ban ends.

It is likely Richard's Gere case is the best one to look at in of what will happen with Smith's ban. With Gere remaining a popular star in Hollywood even after the ban, it made sense that he was allowed to return to the ceremony even if he wasn't invited to present an award. However, there are obvious differences between the two cases.

Gere's ban was due to a political statement made while presenting, while Smith came on stage from the audience to physically assault a presenter. Time will tell how Smith's Oscars ban plays out, but it seems unlikely it will be a decade before he is invited back.

1 Who Have Other Major Award Shows Banned?

Several Performers Have Been Banned Temporarily From Other Shows

For other award shows, banning has not always become public knowledge. There are, however, a few instances in which celebrities have not been allowed to attend, rather than simply not being invited.

Joan and Melissa Rivers were banned from the Emmys in 2004. The mother-daughter duo provided fashion commentary for the series Fashion Police on the E! network. When the two started working for TV Guide, according to Entertainment Weekly, E! would not allow them to participate in the Emmys because E! had the cable rights to the award show. They were also supposed to be excluded in 2005, but the duo returned that year, so presumably some sort of deal was reached.

Janet Jackson was not outright banned from the Grammys, but she was “disinvited” from them in 2004. In her documentary Janet, the singer disclosed that she was asked not to come to the Grammys that year after a wardrobe malfunction involving Justin Timberlake during a Super Bowl performance. Timberlake, however, was allowed to perform after he apologized for the incident. Considering the wardrobe malfunction was the fault of Timberlake pulling on a piece of Jackson’s costume, his apology was welcomed, but it seems the Grammy board might have been waiting on an apology from Jackson as well.

Kanye West was banned specifically from performing at the 2022 Grammys. The Blast was the first to report the news that year when it was revealed that the Grammy board was banning him “due to what they deem to be concerning online behavior.” He was originally slated to perform, but the board got wind of him making remarks on the social media pages of other celebrities that were inappropriate.

In even more recent news, country artist Morgan Wallen was banned from country radio and three different award ceremonies in 2021 after being suspended by his own record label.

The Billboard Music Awards (where he was nominated), the Academy of Country Music Awards, and the Country Music Association Awards all banned Wallen from participating when video surfaced of the singer using racial slurs. The CMA Awards banned him before nominations began, but opted to allow him to be included as a nominee in categories that featured him collaborating with other writers or artists so as not to punish other artists for his actions (via Billboard).

When it comes to officially banning celebrities from events, the Oscars is certainly the ceremony with the most public track record though.