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The organizing team of the 2023 Oscars has established a crisis management team to prevent shocking incidents like the Will Smith slap on Chris Rock a year ago.
The world's largest film awards ceremony, the Oscars, is set to return in mid-March. This also marks one year since Will Smith shocked the world by stepping onto the stage and delivering a slap to the face of host Chris Rock over a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's illness. Happening in just a few fleeting moments, the slap completely overshadowed the main event.
For that reason, during the press conference on March 8, the program's creative team revealed their approach to addressing the 2022 incident, avoiding a repeat of the regrettable situation in the 95th edition of the awards.
'We acknowledge the mistake, and then we move forward. We don't want this year to be overshadowed by last year. We are confident in doing that and will handle it with humor,' executive producer Molly McNearney said.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has confirmed the existence of a crisis management team on standby to anticipate any unwelcome surprises.
'We have a crisis management team - something we've never had before - and many plans are in place. We've anticipated many scenarios. So, we hope to be ready for anything we can't predict right now. We're planning ahead for that eventuality,' emphasized Kramer.
As for himself, 2023 host Jimmy Kimmel vowed to 'defeat' anyone attempting violence under his watch.
Will Smith also couldn't stir up any trouble as he's banned from appearing at the Oscars for 10 years. Typically, the previous year's Best Actor winner returns to present the Best Actress award for the current year. However, as the owner of an Oscar thanks to his role in King Richard , he missed out on this opportunity.
Will Smith is injured
After being slapped by Will Smith on the Oscars stage, Chris Rock has been avoiding directly sharing about that experience. However, in his latest Netflix special, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage , the comedian reignited the controversy. Chris Rock spent 10 minutes in a solo performance berating his long-time friend, even mentioning Jada's affair with 90s singer August Alsina.
A source revealed to Entertainment Tonight that Will Smith knew about Chris Rock's stand-up special and naturally wasn't pleased to become the subject of ridicule.
'Will feels ashamed and hurt by what Chris said about him and his family on the special. He didn't watch it but someone told him what Chris said. Will apologized to Chris and hopes Chris can overlook this,' a source said.
Additionally, according to insiders, both Will and Jada have seen comments about Chris's show. They are annoyed that Netflix aired the program.
According to NY Post
