TURN THE OTHER CHEEK

Chris Rock ‘Didn’t Want to Make Things Worse’ by Having Smith Arrested, Oscars Producer Says

Oscar producer Will Packer told “Good Morning America” that Chris Rock tried to downplay the slap immediately after.

Oscars producer Will Packer told Good Morning America that when he was told that Will Smith was about to be removed from the auditorium immediately after he slapped Chris Rock, he went to the Academy management and said, “Chris Rock doesn’t want that.” Packer had been with Rock when LAPD officers offered to arrest Smith for battery, which Rock declined. “Rock made it clear that he did not want to make a bad situation even worse,” Parker said. “That was Chris’ image, his tone was not retaliatory; his tone was not aggressive and angry.” That was apparently news to Rock. Deadline reports that Rock was never asked if he wanted Smith removed from the Dolby Theatre after he was assaulted on stage. Rather, he was only asked if he wanted to press charges, which Packer reportedly conflated to removal. Packer, who led the show’s first all-Black production team, said “I thought this was part of something that Chris and Will were doing on their own, I thought it was part of a bit.”