The Los Angeles Times' Glenn Whipp and Josh Rottenberg spoke to more a dozen people who were near Smith at the 94th Academy Awards or who had direct knowledge of what transpired after Smith slapped Chris Rock. According to The Times, after a shaken Rock declined to press charges backstage, the Academy tried to address whether Smith should be removed. "When the show broke for commercial, some 10 minutes after The Slap, academy CEO Dawn Hudson and President David Rubin immediately sprang from their seats in the audience and headed backstage," The Times reports. "After first making sure that Rock was OK, they found Smith’s longtime publicist, Meredith O’Sullivan. An academy lawyer joined them in a private room. Furious over Smith’s stunning breach of decorum and concerned it would overshadow the entire show, an industry source said academy leaders told O’Sullivan they wanted the actor to leave the Dolby Theatre as soon as possible. The message, they thought, was unequivocal. And it was mutually agreed upon that O’Sullivan would deliver that request to Smith during the next commercial break." But other sources say the message was more ambiguous, as if it was Smith's decision to leave. During the third commercial break after The Slap and the last before the Best Actor award would be handed out, "Packer came racing across the room with that urgent message: 'Officially, we don’t want you to leave. We want you to stay,'" a source tells The Times. Meanwhile, in his Good Morning America interview, Packer said he didn’t speak directly with Smith during the show. "But, to O’Sullivan and Smith, the message was clear: The academy wanted Smith to stay. The matter was settled," says The Times.
ALSO:
TOPICS: Will Smith, ABC, 94th Academy Awards, Chris Rock, Ricky Gervais, Will Packer, Award Shows