Police Were Prepared to Arrest Will Smith on Oscars Night, Producer Will Packer Says

April 1, 2022 E Jazz Reporter

ABC News shared a clip ahead of Packer’s ‘Good Morning America’ interview airing in full Friday.

Chris Rock and Will Smith onstage during the show at the 94th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 27, 2022.
Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times via GI

Will Packer, who produced the 2022 Oscars ceremony that aired Sunday, is speaking out following the fallout surrounding Will Smith slapping Chris Rock onstage.

In a preview clip shared by ABC News ahead of Good Morning America’s interview with Packer that airs in full Friday, the producer said that the LAPD was ready to arrest Smith until Rock declined to press charges.

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“They were saying, you know, ‘This is battery,’ was the word they use in that moment,” Packer said. “They said, ‘We will go get him; we are prepared. We’re prepared to get him right now. You can press charges. We can arrest him.’”

He continued, “They were laying out the options, and as they were talking, Chris was being very dismissive of those options. He was like, ‘No, I’m fine.’ He was like, ‘No, no, no.’ Even to the point where I said, ‘Rock, let them finish.’”

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