Reports: Will Smith wasn't formally asked to leave the Oscars following slap of Chris Rock

Deadline

In wake of the Academy saying that Smith was asked to leave but refused, several reports have emerged. Deadline's Anthony D'Alessandro and Dominic Patten report Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson "had a discussion with Smith’s rep, bouncing around the idea of the then-pending King Richard Best Actor winner departing the Dolby Theatre. Smith’s rep approached the actor with the suggestion, and he reportedly told her via a well-placed source that night 'I want to make this right, I want to stay and apologize.'" According to Variety's Brent Lang, Matt Donnelly and Clayton Davis, "some Academy members expressed that they wanted Smith removed, but they also say that no formal or explicit ask was ever made. Another person familiar with the Academy said that Smith was asked to leave through an on-site representative. That call was made by Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson, who, a source says, asked for Smith to leave the show instead of remaining in the auditorium for the rest of the telecast. Show producer Will Packer, sources inside the Dolby said, was the key to Smith remaining in his seat. In the roughly 30 minutes following Smith’s attack on Rock, before the award for best actor was presented, Packer walked out into the orchestra and conferred with Smith, according to two witnesses. Packer said that he and the production 'officially' wanted Smith to stay for the remainder of the show, according to one of the witnesses. Another source close to Packer denied that the producer urged Smith to remain."

ALSO:

• Whoopi Goldberg, an Academy board member, insists Will Smith was asked to leave: While she wasn't in attendance at the Oscars, Goldberg said on The View "there are things that I do know.” When pressed by some of her co-hosts as to why Smith was asked to leave rather than told to leave, she speculated about what that scenario would look like: “They come back from back from break, now if (Smith) is in some sort of state and he’s struggling and you’re trying to get him out the door and it’s on camera.” She added that Oscar producers and organizers even considered the possibility that Smith was having “a manic moment, because that’s not what he’s known for, smacking people and stuff.”
• New video shows Jada Pinkett Smith's reaction to her husband slapping Rock