C
hris Rock did not want Will Smith to be “physically removed” from the ceremony after he stormed the stage to slap the comedian, according to an Oscars show-runner.
US film producer Will Packer told Good Morning America that Rock had not wanted to “make a bad situation worse” and that he had spoken to a representative of the Academy on behalf of the stand-up.
It comes after the Academy, which organises the Oscars, said that Smith had been asked to leave the ceremony after the star-studded event but had refused.