Will packer height8/2/2023 Because, as it has now been explained to me, that was the only option at that point. And so I was advocating for what Rock wanted at that time, which was not to physically remove Will Smith at that time. His tone was not retaliatory, his tone was not aggressive and angry. “I immediately went to the Academy leadership that was on site and I said, ‘Chris Rock doesn’t want that.’ I said, ‘Rock has made it clear that he does not want to make a bad situation worse.’ That was Chris’ image. Packer says he was not a part of those conversations. Speaking on GMA, Packer said that, before the best actor award, Shayla Cowan, who produced the show alongside Packer, told him that “they” were about to physically remove Smith. Smith said he is “heartbroken” but will accept all further consequences for his “shocking, painful, and inexcusable” actions at Sunday’s ceremony. Smith announced in a statement issued Friday that he has resigned from the Academy following the incident with Rock. Board members are awaiting further clarity. The statement didn’t provide details, but also acknowledged that the Academy “could have handled the situation differently.”ĭuring Wednesday’s board of governors meeting following the incident, which is now under formal review by the Academy, one board member told The Hollywood Reporter that it still wasn’t made clear who asked Will Smith to leave, or what the sequence of events was. xe9E2cFo8NĮarlier this week, the Academy began disciplinary action against Smith and issued a statement saying Smith was asked to leave the show following the slap, but that he refused. When they asked if Rock would like them to take action, he said no.ĮXCLUSIVE: #Oscars producer Will Packer tells what happened behind the scenes after actor Will Smith slapped host Chris Rock live on stage. “Even to the point where I said, ‘Rock, let him finish.'” We’ll arrest him.'”īut Packer says Rock was being “very dismissive” of those options, reiterating he was fine. LAPD officers came into Packer’s office and were “laying out very clearly what Chris’ rights are. Packer says that once he confirmed the physical assault, Rock insisted to him that he was fine. “I just took a punch from Muhammad Ali,” Packer says Rock joked, despite being “very much in shock.” When Rock walked offstage after presenting the best feature documentary Oscar (which went to Questlove), Packer confirmed with Rock that Smith had really hit him. I’ve never felt so immediately devastated like I did in that moment.” My heart was just in my stomach because of everything about it and what it represented and what it looked like and who was involved. “Chris was keeping his head when everyone else was losing theirs. And I just remember thinking, ‘Oh no, oh no. “Once I saw Will yelling at the stage with such vitriol, my heart dropped. Even when he saw Smith come onstage, Packer says he, like everyone in the audience, assumed it was a bit. He was immediately freestyling,” says Packer of Rock. “He didn’t tell one of the planned jokes. Jane jab referencing her shaved head the actress has alopecia) was unscripted. Holmes, confirmed that the joke Rock made about Jada Pinkett Smith that spurred Smith to take the stage (a G.I. 'Queen Charlotte,' 'The Last of Us,' '1923' Among Location Managers Guild Award Nominees
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