“We’ve opened our minds to the numerous possibilities that can happen at the Oscars,” says the Academy’s CEO.
Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars was arguably the most viral moment of 2022, but the Academy is putting a “crisis team” in place to ensure something like that doesn’t happen again this year.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer outlined the preparations in an interview with Time (via Variety).
“We have a complete crisis team, which we’ve never had before, and we have a lot of plans,” Kramer added. “We’ve run a number of scenarios. So we’re hoping to be ready for anything that we don’t expect to happen right now but are planning for just in case it does.”
Last year’s event caught the Academy off guard, with Academy Awards producer Will Packer saying he “thought it was a bit. I wasn’t worried in the least.” Kramer went on to say that the Academy wants to be prepared for any scenario this year.
“Because of last year, we’ve opened our minds to the myriad possibilities for the Oscars. But these crisis plans — the crisis communication teams and mechanisms we have in place — allow us to say, ‘This is the group that we have to gather very fast. This is how we all connect. This is the representative. This will be the declaration.’ And certainly, depending on the specifics of the situation, and let’s hope nothing happens and we never have to use these, but we already have frameworks in place that can be modified.”
Smith received a 10-year suspension from the Oscars as a result of the slap. The actor has since embarked on multiple apology tours, while Rock capitalized on the moment by incorporating it into some of his comedy shows.
As for this year’s Oscars, you can ready yourself by checking out the nominations, with Everything Everywhere All At Once leading the way with 11 nods. The Oscars will be held on March 12, 2023.
