Speaking publicly for the first time since the incident, executive producer Will Packer told Good Morning America: “Chris Rock handled the moment with so much grace and determination, he allowed the show to continue. If he had handled it differently at the time, he could have to have gone so many different ways “. Asked if Rock had saved the Oscars, Packer told ABC reporter TJ Holmes: “Yes, he certainly saved what was left of it.” Image: The moment Will Smith beat Chris Rock at the Oscars Packer also said that at first he thought the whole thing was a joke on stage, saying, “I thought this was part of something Chris and Will did on their own. I thought it was a bit like everyone else. I was not.” not at all [as Smith approached the stage]. “I thought, okay, you know, he’ll say something or it will come to him, something funny will happen because that’s Chris’s nature and that’s Will’s nature. Well, let’s see what happens.” As soon as the seriousness of the moment became clear, he said that the police officers who monitored the incident offered to arrest Smith on the spot, calling the slap a “battery”. The moment before the slap Describing the moment before the chaos at the Oscars, Packer says he watched the TV screens as Rock took to the stage to present the Best Documentary Award and told his colleagues: “Watch this. It will kill [it]», Because I knew he had an amazing set of jokes. “We had them at the telecommuter. And in the end, it was not a joke. We did not tell one of the planned jokes. He was just immediately free. “You take off the cuff, it’s Chris Rock. No one is better.” It was an unplanned joke – in which Rock compared Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, to Demi Moore ‘s shaved Jane Jane in the 1997 film – that upset Smith. It’s not clear if Rock knew Pinkett Smith had alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss. Read more: The charity Alopecia offers an alternative speech by Will Smith When the problem becomes clear Packer said that when Smith sat back and started shouting profanity on stage, he realized there was a problem. “As soon as I saw Will screaming on stage with such vitriol, my heart sank and I remember thinking ‘Oh, no, not like that,’” he said. Seeing that it was “a moment of conflict”, he said: “I was still not sure if he had been hit.” Chris Rock “still in shock” after leaving the stage Packer said he spoke to Rock when he left the stage with the Oscar winners Summer Of Soul and that was when he realized the comedian had really been hit. Packer described Rock as “still in shock”, but said the comedian was concerned about the situation, joking: “I just got a punch from Mohamed Ali.” Smith played the legendary boxer in the 2001 film Ali, for which he was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Pinkett Smith was also in the film. The producer said the violence left him “crushed”. Police were ready to arrest Smith During the interview, Packer also said that the reason Smith was not arrested on the spot was because Rock “did not want to make a bad situation worse.” The academy initially said Smith had been asked to leave the ceremony, but had refused. Packer said it was an “absolute fact” that LAPD, which attended the incident, was ready to arrest Smith on the night before the announcement of the Best Actor award. Smith won the award for his role in King Richard. Picture: Smith cries as he accepts the Academy Award for Best Actor Packer said officers entered his office and informed him of the situation: “They said, you know, this is a battery, [that] was a word they were using at the time. “They said we were going to pick him up. We are prepared. We are ready to pick him up immediately. You can make accusations, we can arrest him. They showed the options.” However, he said that Rock was rejection of the choices: “Sila [Cowan, co-producer] he told me that they were going to remove Will Smith of course and I had not participated in these conversations. “Well, I immediately went to the Academy leadership on the ground and said, ‘Chris Rock doesn’t want that.’ “I said, ‘Rock has made it clear he does not want to make a bad situation worse.’” That was Chris’s energy. “Well, I was supporting what Rock wanted at the time, which was not to physically remove Will Smith at the time. Because, as they explained to me now, that was the only option at that point. “They have explained to me that there was a discussion in which I was not part, to ask him to leave voluntarily.” Image: (LR) Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, Will Smith, Jaden Smith and Trey Smith at the Vanity Fair Oscar party. Photo: AP Standing ovation Describing the applause Smith received for the Best Actor award, Packer said he believed the audience was not applauding at the time of the violence, but “a career of three decades plus a long course that was the opposite of what we saw at the time.” . He described it as “the worst” of Smith and said that while the actor “could not do it right” he could “do it better”. He said he believed people were hoping “Will Smith would stand on stage and maybe Chris Rock would come in behind him and say, ‘Oh, we have you all!’ Smith’s failure to apologize to Rock in his acceptance speech was a big mistake, according to the producer, who said the energy was sucked out of the room after the incident, adding that it was as if “someone poured cement into it. “Life sucked out of the room and never came back.” It is overshadowed by a slap Packer described the moment of Smith’s violence as “sad” and “disappointing”, expressing his frustration that the slap overshadowed many historic moments of the night. This included Troy Kotsour becoming the first deaf male actor to win an Oscar, Ariana DeBose the first openly queer colored woman to win a gong, and Jane Campion becoming only the third woman to win an Oscar for directing in the 94-year history of the ceremony. Image: Troy Kotsour is the first deaf person to win an Oscar. Photo: AP The event, which had the lowest ratings ever last year with around 10.4 million viewers, saw a 60% increase in viewership this year. However, despite many believing that this was due to the slap, Packer said that the moment with the highest score was actually Troy Kotsur who made history as he received the award for Best Supporting Actor. Smith was “ashamed” of the incident Packer said he did not speak to Smith that night, but his star called him the next morning to apologize. Packer said, “He said, ‘This should be a giant moment for you,’ and he expressed his embarrassment and that was the size.” Smith also apologized to Rock the next day via social media. It has been reported that Smith also apologized to the Academy staff through a Zoom call. An official review of the Academy to discuss the incident will take place on 18 April. The LAPD says no charges have been filed against Smith.
