PR experts say Will Smith will 'get past' his 10-year ban from the Oscars

• PR experts told Insider Will Smith will "bounce back" from the now-infamous Oscars slap.
• "It's going to put the pause button on his career, but Hollywood loves a comeback story," one expert said.

In a shocking moment at the 94th Academy Awards last month, Will Smith approached Chris Rock on stage and slapped him across the face on live television.

Rock had been introducing the award for best documentary feature when he poked fun at Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's, bald head.

"Get my wife's name out of your fucking mouth!" Smith then yelled twice from the audience at the comedian on stage.

Just minutes later, Smith collected his award for best actor for his role as Richard Williams in "King Richard." He took the opportunity to tearfully apologize to the Academy, but notably not to Rock. His apology to Rock came days later.

He closed the speech by saying, "Hopefully the Academy invites me back," before appearing to laugh nervously. He was met with a standing ovation from the crowd.

On Friday, the Academy announced — after an investigation into the incident — that they would not, in fact, be inviting Smith back for the next 10 years.

While Smith said he would "respect and accept" the Academy's decision to exclude him from events for the next decade, public relations experts told Insider they don't think the punishment will carry much weight for his career.

Experts expect Smith to bounce back

"I don't think that this is a permanent cancellation of him by any means," Karie Bible, a media analyst at Exhibitor Relations, said. "It's going to put the pause button on his career, but Hollywood loves a comeback story."

Bible predicted Smith, who will still be able to be nominated for and win Academy Awards, might take some time off to lay low or even enter rehab for anger management.

Eric Schiffer, the chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, echoed Bible's thoughts.

"We will see him get projects over the next year and opportunities to rebuild. I don't see a material effect to his career in the intermediate to long term. Short term, yes," Schiffer told Insider.

"He'll get past this," he said.

Schiffer said that the main reason Smith will come out on the other side is because of the way he handled the immediate fallout from the slap — he apologized, then stepped down from the Academy.

He added that there has been no "audience asphyxiation" which, according to Schiffer, is what producers care about most. He sees Smith starting new projects within the year, even though two projects including Smith already in the works have been halted since the slap.

The slap will forever be a part of Smith's legacy, PR experts say

Despite Smith likely remaining a Hollywood behemoth, experts told Insider that the slap was still a hit to his brand and legacy.

"There won't be a Will Smith retrospective after he's gone without there being a mention of the slap," Schiffer said. "It's forever cauterized into the consciousness of the world for history."

He continued: "This was an example of how any celebrity can overnight reach a level where they may create a spontaneous combustion to their brand that can be catastrophic."

"He's a human being," Schiffer said. "People make mistakes and people also forgive humans who own it and grow from it and learn from it."

Smith's disrepute could make it harder to sell movies, though, which Bible said could mean producers might not want to work with Smith in the near future.

"No one will be wanting to talk about the movie he is in, they will be wanting to talk about this," she said.

Ultimately, Schiffer said Smith's reputation prior to the slap is what will get him out of this incident, largely because Smith is still at the height of his career.

"He's a multi-talented beloved global figure who will come back from this," Schiffer said. "Had he been a different personality or celebrity and had there been a series of material violent acts, then you may have seen a different equation."