Was he asked to leave or wasn’t he?
According to the LA Times, who apparently interview about 5000 witness, none of whom want to be named, here is what happened.
At the earliest possible commercial break (gotta wait for that even though an assault was committed) Academy CEO Dawn Hudson and President David Rubin “sprang” from their seats and went backstage. The found Smith’s publicist Meredith O’Sullivan and asked her to ask Smith if he thought he should leave. In other words, they were not about to toss an A-List celebrity. “We think we’d like Will to leave. Can you find out what Will thinks?”
Apparently, Oscar’s producer Will Packer eventually rushed out to Smith (45 minutes after the slap) and said “Officially, we don’t want you to leave. We want you to stay.”
The LAPD had already asked Chris Rock if he wanted to press charges, he said no, he was fine. Otherwise they would have dragged Smith out. I guess they don’t have acting careers to worry about…
So even after an assault like this, the Hollywood suckups cannot make themselves do what is right.
Here’s what really happened after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars
