Tony Awards: Violent Guests Will Be Removed Immediately

This year's Tony Awards will take place at Radio City Music Hall in New York on June 12—and organizers want to make sure it remains a slap-free zone. In a letter to potential ticket buyers, organizers said there was a new "no violence" policy, an apparent response to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards last month, Broadway World reports. "The Tony Awards has a strict no violence policy," the letter stated. "In the event of an incident, the perpetrator will be removed from the event immediately."

After slapping Rock, Smith remained at the Oscars and collected the best actor award. The Tony Awards is the first major awards show to announce a new policy after the Oscars incident, the Hollywood Reporter notes. The policy was listed among other rules, including the black-tie dress code and the event's COVID vaccination policy, Deadline reports. The complete list of nominees for Tony Awards, which recognize excellence in Broadway theater productions, will be released May 3. (More Tony Awards stories.)