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The producer of the 94thAcademy Awardsis shedding some light on what took place in the moments surroundingWill SmithslappingChris Rock.
Will Packerwill appear Friday onGood Morning America, giving T.J. Holmes his account of how the debacle unfolded on Sunday’s awards show, after the Academy said Smith, 53, wasasked to leave.
A preview of the interview aired Thursday onWorld News Tonight with David Muir. Packer told ABC News he didn’t speak to Smith at all that night, but he recounted his meeting with Rock, 57, and officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, who explained they could arrest the Best Actor Oscar winner if the comedian wanted to press charges.
“They were saying, ‘This is battery’ — the word they used in that moment. They said, ‘We will go get him. We are prepared to get him right now, you can press charges. We can arrest him.’ They were laying out the options,” Packer recalled.
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“And as they were talking, Chris was being very dismissive of those options. He was like, ‘No, I’m fine.’ … Even to the point where I said, ‘Rock, let them finish.’ The LAPD officers finished laying out what his options were, and they said, ‘Would you like us to take any action?’ And he said, ‘No.’ "
The controversy unraveled after Rock made light of Smith’s wifeJada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss, which she’s recently opened up about as a result ofher years-long struggle with alopecia. “Jada, I love ya.G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see ya,” he joked.
Smith thenwalked onto stage and smacked Rock in the face, leaving the audience and live viewers around the world stunned. “Oh wow,” said a seemingly taken-aback Rock as Smith made his way back to his seat. “Will Smithjust smacked the s— out of me.”
“Keep my wife’s name out your f—ing mouth!” Smith yelled up to the stage at Rock after taking his seat again.
TheKing Richardstar, who won Best Actor for his performance in the movie,apologized to the Academyin his acceptance speech that night. He latershared a public apologyfor Rock. “I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be,” Smith wrote.
After aninitial statement, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciencesannounced that they “condemn” Smith’s actionsand have “officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law.”
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The Academy has since issued a statement claiming that theyasked Smith to leave the awards showafter the outburst, but he “refused” to depart.
“Things unfolded in a way we could not have anticipated,” read a statement issued to PEOPLE Wednesday. “While we would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognize we could have handled the situation differently.”
A source previously told PEOPLE that “having Will removedwas definitely discussed seriously” after the incident.
Packerfaced criticism after his initial responseto the matter. “Welp… I said it wouldn’t be boring #Oscars,” he wrote Sunday night on Twitter.
“Making jokes about an assault that happened during your show isn’t the congratulatory message you think it is,” one person wrote in response.
The producer later clarified his thoughts in a follow-up tweet. “Black people have a defiant spirit of laughter when it comes to dealing with pain because there has been so much of it,” Packer wrote. “I don’t feel the need to elucidate that for you. But I also don’t mind being transparent and say that this was a very painful moment for me. On many levels.”
Packer will appear Friday onGood Morning America, airing at 7 a.m. on ABC.
source: people.com
