Will Smith: That happened behind the scenes on Oscar night

When Will Smith stormed onto the stage at the Dolby Theater on the evening of March 27 and slapped Chris Rock resoundingly, many guests at the 94th Academy Awards believed it was a rehearsed act. It wasn’t until Smith got back in his seat and yelled at the comedian that the violence was anything but planned.

This is how Hollywood star Kevin Costner describes it to the “Los Angeles Times”. The newspaper spoke to countless witnesses to the incident and reconstructed the events of that night.

After Chris Rock left the stage, rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs took the stage to invite Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro on stage for a tribute to their classic The Godfather. But the viewers could hardly concentrate on the mafia classic: “I’ve never experienced such a dramatic drop in mood,” says a witness.

Chris Rock tries humor

Meanwhile, backstage, Chris Rock tried to use humor to recover from the shock: “I just got hit in the face by Muhammad Ali and I didn’t get a scratch,” the comedian is said to have joked, according to a nearby photographer – alluding to a previous role Smiths, in which he played the famous boxer.

At the same time, Rock is said to have stopped the police officers present from arresting Smith and escorting him out of the room. The Academy’s chairmen are said to have spoken to Will Smith’s PR manager Meredith O’Sullivan and urged him to leave the room during the next commercial break.

Meanwhile, Tyler Perry and Denzel Washington talked to Will Smith and tried to calm him down. A source reports that he was beside himself. Bradley Cooper also tried to calm the actor down.

Will Smith refuses to go

During the next break, O’Sullivan brought him the Academy’s request that he leave the event. But Smith refused: he firmly believed he could make amends. “I want to apologize,” he said, according to sources. He was already assuming that he would be called onto the stage and awarded.

So Will Smith stayed – also because those responsible at the Academy did not speak to him themselves, but sent his PR manager ahead. A decision that was questioned by some because of the further course, as reported by the “Los Angeles Times”. “You should have told him directly,” said one interlocutor who, like so many, wished to remain anonymous. Others showed understanding for the great time pressure under which those responsible were – after all, the Oscars are a live show.

Meanwhile, the event’s producer, Will Packer, was pushing for Will Smith to stay. He also referred to Chris Rock – wrongly, as people from the comedian’s environment claim. During the next commercial break—the last before the Best Male Actor Oscar was presented—Packer ran up to Smith and his public relations executive and said, “We don’t want you to go. We want you to stay.”

“Love Makes You Do Crazy Things”

Apparently Packer acted on his own in the hope that Smith’s speech would provide another emotional highlight for the TV broadcast. And so it happened: Will Smith was called and entered the stage to a mixture of applause and boos. Musician Robert Glasper had to ask the audience to be quiet: “We all want to hear what he has to say.”

And so Smith gave his acceptance speech, tearfully apologizing to the Academy and the other nominees – but not to Chris Rock. “Love makes you do crazy things,” he managed to explain.

Smith later celebrated his Oscar win at the Vanity Fair party – as if nothing had happened. Much to the displeasure of many guests, complaints abounded about his behavior, which they perceived as shameless. “It definitely wasn’t the best decision he made that night,” commented a witness.

Not without mentioning that Smith made a significantly worse decision that night. One whose consequences are not yet foreseeable and which will definitely have an impact on the actor’s future career.

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