“We’re not going to take that Oscar from him,” she said on her chat show The View. “There will be consequences I’m sure, but I don’t think that’s what they’re going to do, particularly because Chris said: ‘Listen, I’m not pressing any charges.’”

As regards appearing at future ceremonies, or indeed being nominated again, that is up to the discretion of the Academy, something that will no doubt be taken very seriously. Also, the resignation does mean, potentially, that it is up to Smith to decide whether or not he wants to return at a future date. Again, this lies in the hands of the board members – although because of the uncharted territory Smith has entered with his resignation, the Academy may still be in the process of formulating its position going forward and clarifying procedures for a scenario nobody previously envisaged.

But will Smith’s resignation be enough for him to achieve closure and get on with his career? He recently finished shooting Antoine Fuqua’s Emancipation. Starring Smith as an escaped slave who fights in the American Civil War, the movie is a prestige project, backed by Apple, and, in different circumstances, would surely have been in the 2023 Oscar conversation. Now it risks becoming a victim of Slapgate.

The Academy isn’t the only body which has been considering censuring Smith. Actors’s union SAG-AFTRA is expected to take disciplinary action too. “Violence or physical abuse in the workplace is never appropriate and the union condemns any such conduct,” it said in a statement. “The incident involving Will Smith and Chris Rock…. was unacceptable.”