Oscars producer Will Packer has revealed when Will Smith first got up on stage at the ceremony to confront Chris Rock, he thought it was planned ‘like everybody else’.
On Sunday evening, Smith slapped Rock across the face after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett’s haircut, who has spoken openly in the past about having a hair loss condition called alopecia.
The story has continued to unravel since then, with the King Richard star issuing a public apology amid the news that the Academy has launched a formal investigation and claims that he was asked to leave the event and refused, which have since been disputed by insiders.
On Friday, Packer was interviewed by Good Morning America about what unfolded, explaining that from his point of view, when everything first started kicking off, he assumed it was a sketch.
He outlined how Rock was ‘freestyling’ on stage and did not ‘tell one of the planned jokes’ that was on the teleprompter, adding: ‘I tell you, if there is anybody that you don’t worry about going out in front of a live audience, and riffing off the cuff, it’s Chris Rock, nobody’s better.’
The film producer continued: ‘I thought this was part of something that Chris and Will were doing on their own, I thought it was a bit, like everybody else, I knew we hadn’t practised it.’
Packer said that he ‘wasn’t concerned at all’ when Smith made his way on the stage.
‘I figured OK, he’s going to say something or come at him, something funny is going to happen because that’s the nature of Chris and that’s the nature of Will, so let’s see what happens,’ he recalled.
‘Once I saw Will yelling at the stage with such vitriol my heart dropped and I just remember thinking “Oh no, not like this…”’
In the same interview, Packer revealed that Los Angeles police officers were prepared to arrest Smith and used the word ‘battery’, but Rock was ‘dismissive’ about pressing charges.
‘As they were talking Chris was being very dismissive of those options, he was like, “No I’m fine”… and even to the point I said, “Rock let them finish”,’ he said.
‘The other LAPD officers finished laying out what his options were and they said, “Would you like us to take any action?” and he said “no”.’
Packer said that Rock didn’t want Smith to be ‘physically removed’ from the Oscars, so he ‘went to the Academy leadership’ to make the comedian’s wishes known.
‘I said, “Rock has made it clear that he does not want to make a bad situation worse.” That was Chris’ energy. His tone was not retaliatory. His tone was not angry,’ he said.
He added that it was ‘explained’ to him that ‘there was a conversation that I was not a part of to ask him to voluntarily leave’.
Packer revealed that Smith reached out to him the next day to apologise, when he ‘expressed his embarrassment’ and said to the award ceremony’s producer: ‘This should have been a gigantic moment for you.’
During a recent stand-up set, Rock addressed the incident for the first time, saying that he was ‘still processing’ what happened.
At another gig, he reportedly shut down a fan who swore about Smith during the performance.
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