After Will Smith’s slap last year, a “crisis team” will be in place for the 2023 Oscar ceremony, says Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
You are definitely living under a rock if you don’t know about last year’s infamous moment at the Oscars. Yes, you might have gotten the clue; I am talking about the Will Smith and Chris Rock slapping incident that took place during last year’s Oscar Awards.
Chris Rock was presenting the night, cracking jokes here and there, which also involved Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Initially, Smith seemed to enjoy the joke in a light manner, but suddenly went on stage and slapped Rock during the live telecast.
The incident became the talk of the town at the time and is still discussed now and then. And now, with the Oscars 2023 being just around the corner, the Will Smith slap incident is once again in the news for obvious reasons.
After Will Smith’s Slap Last Year, A ‘Crisis Team’ Will Be In Place For The Oscars 2023 Ceremony-
Last year’s infamous situation at the Oscars definitely did a lot of harm to the reputation of the Academy Awards. The ratings of the Oscars have been at an all-time low in the past few years, according to reports.
The Oscars have been one of the most renowned and biggest nights in Hollywood. However, with each passing year, the Awards Night is losing more and more viewers.
Last year, the broadcast experienced record-low ratings, bringing in a mere 9.8 million viewers.
On top of that, the Will Smith slap incident worked like gasoline in already-burning flames, resulting in poor ratings for the show, going by popular theories on the internet.
Just eight years ago, the Oscars nabbed more than 40 million viewers. But that’s not the case anymore. Oscar ratings are declining year by year, putting a lot of pressure on the organization.
In a recent interview given to the Times Magazine, Bill Kramer, the CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, says, “They will have a crisis team intact, so they can effectively handle any kind of unprecedented situation that might occur during the awards night.”
He exactly said, verbatim:
“We have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and many plans in place. 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.”
Further, taking the example of what happened last year, Bill says:
“Because of last year, we’ve opened our minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars. 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.”
Not to mention, AMPAS president Janet Yang also stated on the Will Smith slap incident that the organization’s response was “inadequate” during the Oscar 2023 nominees’ formal launch that was held last month.
She addressed last’s year Oscar incident and said:
“I’m sure you all remember we experienced an unprecedented event at the Oscars,” Yang said. “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.”
More About The Oscars Award 2023-
Many people are looking forward to the Oscars ceremony in 2023 now that the nominee’s list has been revealed. The 95th Academy Awards will be broadcast on March 12th, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting for the third time.
With a “crisis team” in place, we can hope that nothing unexpected happens on Oscars night 2023. Wait and watch!
