Chris Rock did not want Will Smith ejected from Oscars, producer says

The producer of the Oscars has said he prevented Will Smith from being “physically removed” from the ceremony because “Chris Rock did not want that”. Will Packer said he had been told the bosses of the organising academy had planned to have the actor ejected after he slapped the comedian on stage. “I had not been a part of those conversations,” Packer said. “So, I immediately went to the Academy leadership that was on site and I said, ‘Chris Rock doesn’t want that’.” Packer told ABC’s Good Morning America, in his first interview since the incident, that he had he had told academy bosses: “Rock has made it clear that he does not want to make a bad situation worse.”He added: “That was Chris’s energy. His tone was not retaliatory. His tone was not angry.(BBC)…[+]