TMZ: The Academy lied about asking Will Smith to leave after slapping Chris Rock

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This Wednesday, the Academy claimed they asked Will Smith to leave the Dolby Theater after he walked up on stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock. But according to sources speaking to TMZ, the Academy is lying.

The sources say Academy officials were split on the idea of booting Smith and discussed it during a commercial break, but never reached a decision.

"We're told Will was aware there was talk about asking him to leave the theater. During one of the commercial breaks, we're told Oscars producer Will Packer walked up to Will and said, 'We do not want you to leave' ... this according to our sources," TMZ reports. "Will Packer walked up to Will Smith just after 8 PM, around 35 minutes after the slap. That's when he told Will he could stay, according to our sources. Will won the Best Actor Award around 5 minutes later."


More at the jump --
https://www.rawstory.com/will-smith-oscars-slap/

Marlow: It was definitely… a pretty big slap. At this point it’s fair to question what the hell Academy producers are even doing in situations when the show is spinning out of control. I’m not saying the two incidents are similar, but when the La La Land/Moonlight fiasco occurred, it took a La La Land producer taking control of the situation and reading the correct Best Picture winner out loud. Oscar producers and security were nowhere to be found. And here, they were also nowhere to be found. Denzel Washington had to play peacemaker. CNN even reported, “There were immediate discussions [about removing Smith post-slap] but the Academy decision-makers were seated in various spots in the Dolby Theatre and couldn’t mobilize to make a decision before he won Best Actor.” So, yes, pretty stunning levels of incompetence on display here.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-academys-handling-of-will-smiths-oscars-slap-has-been-a-total-disaster