Oscar 'Crisis Team' Formed a Year After Will Smith Slap Incident | Hope The Team Knows What 'Quick Response' Is

The infamous 2022 Oscar slap by Will Smith has left some scars that might take a long time to heal. In an interview with Time magazine, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO, Bill Kramer confirmed that the organization has formed a new "crisis team" for the upcoming 2023 Oscars in order to quickly navigate any potential real-time emergency. The formation of a crisis team is in response to Smith's infamous walk on stage and slap across the face of presenter Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.

Previously, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) president, Janet Yang, admitted at the start of the 2023 Oscars Nominees Luncheon that the organization did not handle the fallout from Smith slapping Rock during the ceremony properly and responded very late, reports Variety.

"I'm sure you all remember we experienced an unprecedented event at the Oscars," Yang told attendees, which included the likes of Tom Cruise. "What happened onstage was fully unacceptable and the response from our organization was inadequate. We learned from this that the Academy must be fully transparent and accountable in our actions, and particularly in times of crisis you must act swiftly, compassionately, and decisively for ourselves and for our industry. You should and can expect no less from us going forward." 

Kramer has spent a lot of time putting out fires since taking over as CEO. The Oscars' ratings have dropped to their lowest point in the show's history over the last two years. The Academy has tasked Kramer with persuading viewers who haven't watched the Academy Awards in years—and who haven't seen many of the nominated films—to watch them again.

"We have a whole crisis team, something we've never had before, and many plans in place," Kramer said. "We've run many scenarios. So it is our hope that we will be prepared for anything that we may not anticipate right now but that we're planning for just in case it does happen. Because of [the slap] last year, we've opened our minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars."

Kramer added: "But these crisis plans—the crisis communication teams and structures we have in place—allow us to say this is the group that we have to gather very quickly. This is how we all come together. This is the spokesperson. This will be the statement. And obviously depending on the specifics of the crisis, and 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."

During the 2022 Oscars, Smith took to the stage and slapped Rock across the face after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved hairstyle.

Smith returned to his seat after the slap and yelled at Rock, "Keep my wife's name out of your fu**ing mouth!" Smith remained in attendance as he received the best actor Oscar for his performance in King Richard. The awards aired at the end of March 2022 and Smith announced his resignation from the Academy on April 1 in a statement that read: "I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken."

Smith apologized for his actions once more in a video posted in July 2022, stating: "I've reached out to Chris and the message that came back is he's not ready to talk, and when he is, he will reach out."

It took what felt like a gazillion years for the Academy to announce that Smith's AMPAS membership had been revoked and that he would be barred from attending the Oscars ceremony for the next ten years.

"The 94th Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year; however, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage," the Academy said in an April 8, 2022, statement.

"During our telecast, we did not adequately address the situation in the room. For this, we are sorry. This was an opportunity for us to set an example for our guests, viewers, and our Academy family around the world, and we fell short — unprepared for the unprecedented."

What seemed like a wounding moment that could have been stitched up, has been drastically delayed enough to bleed for a few too many months.