This year, the organizers of Oscars would prefer not to take any chances that would demean their reputation.
The Oscars committee has set up a team that would curb any form of potential crisis at the 2023 edition.
In an interview with Time (via Variety), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer announced a “whole crisis team” at this year’s ceremony to protect attendees from the response to jokes about G.I. Jane.
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“We have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and many plans in place,” Kramer said.
“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.”
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Several weeks ago, Academy president Janet Yang said they weren’t fast enough to stop Will Smith from slapping Chris Rock.
Though one has to imagine even with a crisis team, Smith, who was being coronated as the Best Actor of the year, still would have walked on stage to “slap the shit” out of Chris Rock.
However, that’s not the point. The point is that the team has “run many scenarios,” which allows them to put out a statement sooner. The slap “opened [their] minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars,” including on-stage assaults. Through the crisis team, the Academy can produce a statement much faster.
