Last week, Academy CEO Bill Kramer revealed they’ve put a “crisis team” in place to deal with any real-time emergencies that may happen during The Oscars this year in the wake of Will Smith’s infamous slap.
“We have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and many plans in place,” Kramer told Time: “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.”
According to a new report, that means they’ve established a team of producers who are prepared to make swift decisions after the Academy came under fire last year for failing to kick Will out of the auditorium.
via Page Six:
A guest who was in attendance at last year’s show told Page Six: “If the producers had done their job last year and removed Will … we would be in a very different place.
“Also, if they truly think there’s going to be a repeat of something like this, then put money into more security! There was only one police officer actually in the room last year.”
Another guest in the room added: “You need police and security, but no one is going to hit anyone this year. [The Academy] should just do the right thing and take the person off the stage if anything happens.”
Smith jumped out of his seat last year when Rock made a joke about his wife Jade Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, suggesting she should be cast in “G.I.Jane 2.” (Pinkett Smith has openly talked about her battle with alopecia.)
The “Fresh Prince” actor was banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years and later embarked on an apology tour while promoting his latest movie, “Emancipation,” for which he won the NAACP Best Actor award Sunday.
This means Smith, 54, will not be back at the Oscars to hand out the award for Best Actress, as is tradition for the previous year’s Best Actor, but Academy insiders are keeping mum about who will stand in for him, declining to name Smith’s replacement.
An awards expert said: ”It will be someone A list- like Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise, both of whom will be in the room that night.”
A highly-placed industry insider said: “I honestly think that saying they’ve got a crisis team just gives great publicity for the Academy and will get people tuning in to the Oscars. I’m tempted to think it’s all for publicity.”
On Saturday night however, just a week before the Oscars, Rock, 58, will talk about the slap in his stand-up show, “Selective Outrage” for Netflix, streaming live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore.
It will be the first time the streamer has ever offered a live show to its 231 million global subscribers.
We’re so tired of hearing about this damn slap.
