Will Smith – Oscars Implement ‘Crisis Team’ For The First Time Ever, One Year After Infamous Chris Rock Slap

Will Smith, Chris Rock

Will Smith – Oscars Implement ‘Crisis Team’ For The First Time Ever, One Year After Infamous Chris Rock Slap

There will be no “surprise” moments at this year’s Oscars, according to the CEO.

Ahead of this year’s Academy Awards Ceremony, head honcho Bill Kramer reportedly shared plans to have a “crisis team” in place, to handle any unplanned situations that may arise.

Reportedly, this will be the first time ever in the Academy’s history that such precautions will be taken. The move was largely prompted by the shocking moment when Will Smith stormed the stage last year and assaulted presenter Chris Rock on live TV. If you recall, Rock made an insensitive joke about the “King Richard” star’s wife — Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head (due to alopecia) — moments before Smith won his first-ever Oscars award.

Will Smith just punched Chris Rock and told him "keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth" pic.twitter.com/YK5aQqv89t

— BACKUP ACCOUNT (@JasmineBrandTHE) March 28, 2022

Following the slap, Smith was banned from participating in the awards ceremony for 10 years after resigning on his own. The entertainer made several apologies to the Academy, colleagues, and Rock for the regretful moment. Earlier this month, Academy president Janet Yang stated she believes Smith’s punishment was “inadequate.”

During a recent interview, Kramer was asked if there were certain measures being planned in the case of potential surprises, to which the CEO stated:

“Absolutely….We have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and many plans in place.”

Adding:

“We’ve run many scenarios. So it is our hope that we will be prepared for anything that we may not anticipate right now but that we’re planning for just in case it does happen.”

This year’s show will reportedly be hosted by talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and will air live on March 12 at 8 pm EDT.

[VIA]

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