Banned from the Academy: what happened to the first actor to suffer Will Smith’s possible fate?

It's the one club in Hollywood no one wants to join. The tally of those stars who have been kicked out the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, is select. So select, in fact, that it only has five members: Carmine Caridi, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski, and cinematographer Adam Kimmel. 

Could a sixth be about to join? One of the possible sanction mooted against Will Smith after his behaviour at the 94th Oscars ceremony is expulsion from the Academy. Weinstein and Cosby were ejected after they were convicted of sex offences; Polanski, meanwhile, faced accusations of paedophilia. But video piracy? That seems an altogether more niche – and less heinous – crime. Yet it's exactly what did for Carmine Caridi, who became the first person to be booted from the Academy. 

You likely won’t have heard of Caridi, who died in 2019. But in February 2004 the actor, typecast for years as Mafia heavies in films like The Godfather Part II and Bugsy, was expelled for sharing copies of the screeners annually mailed out to members.

These screeners give prospective voters home access to many of cinema’s newest releases, with members often sharing their collection with friends and family during Oscar season. That despite dire warnings on screener packaging written to prevent distribution.

“How could a guy who was born on the Lower East Side of New York to immigrant parents and who became a successful actor, not share these movies with my brother and sister?” Caridi asked during a 2005 Los Angeles Times report.

Unfortunately for Caridi, his tendency for screener-sharing resulted in him crossing paths with a piracy legend. For at least three years in the early Noughties, Caridi gave his screeners to a friend named Russell Sprague, who he had met when Sprague came to fix his VCR. Unknown to Caridi, Sprague was also a notorious movie pirate, whose copyright-be-damned criminal career began in 1975.

According to Sprague’s wife Roberta, her husband got off on the thrill of distributing bootleg copies of major movies long before they actually hit cinemas, telling the Los Angeles Times that it made him feel “important and popular.”

Having lost track of Sprague during the Eighties, police once again had him in their sights once pirated copies of the Tom Cruise vehicle The Last Samurai hit the internet in 2003 – a screener watermarked with Carmine Caridi’s name. Similar screeners for films including Big Fish, Something’s Gotta Give and Mystic River also turned up bearing the same watermark.

After visiting Caridi and seizing his lengthy collection of screeners, police reportedly offered him immunity in exchange for Sprague’s name. Caridi gave up his friend, police tracking Sprague down to his Illinois home, where he had been creating digital copies of Caridi’s VHS screeners and uploading them online. He eventually pleaded guilty to his crimes.

Before trial began, however, Sprague was allowed to return home to live with his family – until his wife shopped him to the police after she caught him smoking marijuana with their 17-year-old son. She also claimed he was still distributing pirate DVDs. Holed up in a jail cell and awaiting trial, Sprague died of an apparent heart attack.

Despite Sprague’s death, Caridi was unrelenting in his opinion of the man, telling the Los Angeles Times that “this guy ruined my life.” Caridi was ordered to pay $300,000 each to both Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros (he has claimed he couldn’t afford such numbers), and was banned for life from the Academy.

“Who the hell knew he was gonna put 'em on the internet?” Cardi told the Hollywood Reporter earlier in 2017. “I had no idea. I was duped. [But] I don’t blame the Academy. I did violate their law.”

Cardi also told the industry paper that he does still receive screeners from the Screen Actors Guild, but not the same volume as he did when he was a member of the Academy. He did, however, reveal that his run-in with Oscar bosses hasn’t stopped him from sharing copies with his friends and family. 

Oscars’ hall of shame

The five members booted out of the Academy

1. Carmine Caridi, expelled in 2004 

The Italian-American actor, who died in 2019, carved out a below-the-radar career as a Mobster heavy in films such as Bugsy and The Godfather trilogy. But his moment in the spotlight came when he became the first man to be hoicked from the Academy in 2004. His crime? Pirating the free film screeners he received as a member. It seems mild in comparison to what came next… 

2. Harvey Weinstein, expelled in 2017

As one of Hollywood’s heavyweight players, Weinstein was used to seeing films he produced clear up at the Academy’s annual shindig. Yet after more than 80 women made accusations of sexual assault against him in October 2017, he was defenestrated. It was hardly the most severe penalty for his crimes – he is currently serving 17 years for rape – but it symbolised how far and fast he fell. 

3. Bill Cosby, expelled in 2018

Another prominent #MeToo scalp, the comedian known as “America’s Dad” was ejected after Cosby was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former basketball player. But in June last year, his 10-year sentence was overturned on a legal technicality and he continues to perform. His expulsion, though, looks permanent. 

4. Roman Polanski, expelled in 2018

The acclaimed Polish-French film director, who won the Best Director Oscar in 2003 for The Pianist, was thrown out at the same time as Cosby. In 1977, he was convicted of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl; but he fled the US justice system and continued to direct abroad. The Academy’s decision was an overdue recognition that he could never return to the Hollywood fold. 

5. Adam Kimmel, expelled in 2021

For some, the case of cinematographer Kimmel shows how success smothers all in the film industry. Kimmel was able to build a successful career, working behind the scenes of films such as Beautiful Girls, Capote and Never Let Me Go. This was despite being a registered sex offender – arrested and charged for the against underage girls, once in 2003 and again in 2010. Last year’s dismissal from the Academy, though, indicates he is unlikely to step behind the camera again.