“Let’s hope we never have to use these”: Oscars CEO Bill Kramer Has Hired Crisis Teams To Stop Will Smith From Slapping Hosts Again
Last year’s infamous slapping incident seemed to have taken the Oscar committee by surprise. Although many possible things could occur during the function, however, a slap was one of the last things anyone could have predicted. The CEO of the prestigious award show Bill Kramer recently shared his thoughts and the committee’s view on the whole situation. He mentioned how Will Smith’s conduct against Chris Rock on stage was an “unacceptable” behavior. And therefore action plans and frameworks were modified to prevent any such crisis in the future. It was reported that the response the slapgate incident received had not been adequate at all. No one had anticipated someone would go and get physical in the spur of the moment. So, it makes sense why the committee would want to be fully prepared with their response team.
Oscar CEO Is Prepared For Crisis Like the Will Smith-Chris Rock Incident
After the infamous Oscar slap incident last year, the award committee has expressed its view on the whole situation. It has been emphasized that despite the crisis plans, Will Smith‘s actions had been greatly unanticipated. No one could have predicted such a heat-of-the-moment reaction. Following the incident, the president of the award show Janet Yang shared what they learned from the incident. And she also mentioned how the After Earth actor’s conduct had been “unacceptable”.
But according to her how the situation got handled had not been carried out adequately. Furthermore, recently Oscars CEO Bill Kramer also gave more information regarding what the committee had been doing about any such future crisis. Talking with TIME, he shared that the slap gate incident “opened” their minds to possible things that could go down during the function. Adding to that he expressed the committee’s hope of not having to use the action plans that they have in place. Kramer said,
“let’s hope something doesn’t happen and we never have to use these, but we already have frameworks in place that we can modify,”
According to him, the incident affected the vision that the committee has about conducting such a prestigious show.
What Went Down at Last Year’s Oscars?
By now, most people would know that Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage. The incident was turned into memes and went viral quickly. What triggered the situation was Rock’s insensitive remark toward Jada Pinkett Smith. While hosting he made fun of the actress’ shaved head. This was rude and insensitive considering she suffers from Alopecia. A medical condition where a person loses all their hair. Taking in the disrespect his wife faced around hundreds of people, the Suicide Squad star went and slapped the comedian.
However, after facing backlash, he publicly and directly apologized to Rock. The After Earth actor even filmed a whole apology video on YouTube. But his actions cost him a ban of 10 years from the Oscars.
Source: TIME
