What we know, What we don’t know, and What’s next

Drama surrounding Will Smith’s smacking of Chris Rock at the Oscars continues for almost a week. It has become a wild story as more details and reactions are revealed.

Smith is not being portrayed better by any of the new beats, but Will Packer and Academy are also in the spotlight for how they dealt with the incident and its aftermath.

Where do we stand now? Will Smith resigned Friday from the Academy. He also agreed to take additional disciplinary actions from SAG-AFTRA. However, he has not given interviews to discuss the matter. Rock, who returned to his stand-up comedy in Boston on Wednesday night said that he was still. “processing”What happened. And the Academy is facing new questions about what its leadership did and didn’t do just after the incident.

Let’s try to make sense of the Slap Heard Round the World.

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Chris Rock’s Ad Lib Prompts a Smack

You’ve heard it and seen it a thousand times in the last week. When Chris Rock took the stage of the Dolby Theatre to present Best Documentary he made an unscripted joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, saying that he’s excited to see her in “G.I. Jane 2.”This was her close-cropped hairstyle. Rock would be proud. TMZ that the comic was unaware of Pinkett Smith’s struggles with alopecia that has led to severe hair loss. Will Packer, Oscars producer, confirmed this in his sit-down interview with “Good Morning America” that Rock’s joke was an ad-lib that was not listed on the Teleprompter.

Smith walked up to Rock and slapped him on the face. He then twice shouted at Smith as he sat down. “Keep my wife’s name out your f—ing mouth.”

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Will Smith Remains to Accept His Oscar

What happened next — in the roughly half hour before Smith accepted his Best Actor Oscar for “King Richard” with a tearful speech that did not include an apology to Rock — remains very much in dispute.

Many have wondered why Smith was allowed to stay in his seat even after making physical contact on stage with Rock. Packer claimed in his interview that Rock had not declined to press charges against Smith. “GMA”Interview that Smith was arrested by police on Sunday night, just minutes after the incident.

On Wednesday, just after an emergency meeting of the Academy’s board of governors, the organization issued a statement that said “Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused,”But it also included that “we also recognize we could have handled the situation differently.”

Packer claimed that he was informed by Academy leadership that Smith wanted him to have it “physically removed”But he said that he wasn’t involved in that conversation. He then told leadership — namely Academy CEO Dawn Hudson and President David Rubin — that based on his conversation, “Chris Rock doesn’t want that.”

“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, it was not angry, so I was advocating what Rock wanted in that time which was not to physically remove Will Smith at that time because as it has now been explained to me, that was the only option at that point.”

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Who asked Smith for permission to leave?

Many online were also quick to observe that if the Academy’s statement was true, it’s unclear WhoSmith was asked to leave. Packer spoke to Smith and Rock but no one had seen a security guard, LAPD, or Academy leader approach Smith directly to ask him to leave.

Multiple reports have mentioned during each Oscars’ commercial breaks that Smith’s longtime publicist Meredith O’Sullivan Wasson was seen talking to her client, and others in the gallery likewise saw Smith speaking with Denzel Washington and Bradley Cooper in the immediate aftermath.

No one was able to see that Will Smith had been asked by Academy brass to quit the Oscars. However, there are several reports including one that Will Smith was not asked to leave the Oscars. Puck, said that Hudson and Rubin spoke backstage with O’Sullivan Wasson, and asked her to deliver the message that they wanted Smith to leave. When she returned, Puck reported, Smith responded that he didn’t want to exit but would think about the request.

Is asking a star’s publicist to suggest leaving the same as stating your desire that he leave — or physically removing him? TMZhe stated that the Academy “lied”He was asked to leave and suggested that there had been a split between officials.

The Academy did not comment on the Puck Report. Packer representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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What about Chris Rock?

There’s also a discrepancy over Chris Rock’s intentions because he’s stayed mum since Sunday. Packer said that he had spoken to Academy leadership. “Chris Rock doesn’t want”Smith to be rescinded, Puck and Deadline also reported that Rock only said he didn’t want Smith arrested and offered no opinion on removing him from the Dolby.

And despite what Diddy claimed on Monday, it’s unclear if Smith and Rock have privately spoken or made amends.

Rock is also back on his stand-up tour and his Boston show was packed with journalists and fans eager to see his reactions. Even though he stopped a shouter, “F– Will Smith,”The comedian has remained neutral to Sunday night’s events. The comic opened his first show by acknowledging that he’s “processing”The event will be discussed at some point and I will also mention that it will. “be serious and funny”He will.

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Will Smith Must Continue to Face the Music

Smith quit the Academy on Friday. However, it’s not known if the Academy will pursue further discipline against him. “Change takes time and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason,”The star made a statement.

The board of Governors stated that it would require “a few weeks”to complete the proper review process. The next board meeting will be held on April 15.

Many Academy members have called on Smith to be censured. This could include his suspension or expulsion. They could further choose not to invite him to next year’s ceremony or keep him from presenting the Best Actress Oscar in 2023, as is usually tradition for the prior year’s Best Actor winner.

It’s not expected however, though it would be within the Academy’s power, to revoke Smith’s Oscar. Only one Oscar was ever revoked and it wasn’t for personal conduct.

Smith’s eligibility for future awards consideration could be stopped by the Academy. This would negatively impact his chances of making a film. “Emancipation,”Antoine Fuqua directed the runaway slave drama and it was to be released later in the year by Apple. It’s unclear what course of action Apple might take with that film, at least until any formal discipline is given.

There’s also another shoe to potentially drop if SAG-AFTRA decides to take any disciplinary action against Smith. The actors union similarly condemned Smith’s actions and said on Monday it was in touch with AMPAS and ABC and “will work to ensure this behavior is appropriately addressed.”

What’s Next for Will Smith’s Career?

The bigger questions though have been about Smith’s career. According to agents, producers, and managers who spoke with Smith, his days as a movie star in the big leagues might be over.

Others suspected that the valuation of Smith’s production company Westbrook Inc. will take a severe hit and that his company may have a hard time developing new projects at least until the fall.

According to crisis PR representatives, Smith can still be rehabilitated if Rock publicly forgives Smith or if Smith makes a formal apology in an interview. Even if Smith is still bankable and can find work, his reputation has been forever damaged by the Oscars slap.

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