LAPD Was Ready To Arrest Will Smith Says: ‘This is battery, we will go get him, we are prepared, we will go get him right now
Disgraced Hollywood star Will Smith got a lucky break at the Oscars because the Los Angeles Police Department was ready to arrest him for battery according to the show’s producer.
Will Packer, the producer of this year’s Oscars, is setting the record straight about what happened in an interview with ABC News’ Good Morning America that will air tomorrow.
He said the Los Angeles Police Department came to his office on Sunday and spoke to Chris Rock about filing charges against Smith after the slap hear round the world. Packer said: “They were saying, ‘This is battery.’ That was the word they used in that moment.
“They said, ‘We will go get him. We are prepared. We will go get him right now.
“You can press charges. We can arrest him. They were laying out the options.
“And as they were talking, Chris was, he was being very dismissive of those options.
“He was like, ‘No, I’m fine. He was like no, no, no. And even to the point where I said, ‘Rock, let them finish.
“The LAPD officers finish laying out what his options were. And they said, ‘Would you like us to take any action?
“And he said no.”
In a statement released by the LAPD Sunday night, “investigative entities were aware” of the incident that happened between Rock and Smith during the show, but “the individual involved has declined to file a police report.”
“If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report,” according to the statement.
Packer, who led the show’s first all-Black production team at the 94th Academy Awards, told “GMA” that he did not speak with Smith directly the night of the Oscars.
LAPD Was ‘Prepared’ To Immediately Arrest Will Smith After Oscars Slap, Says Producer Will Packer https://t.co/ZqKpUQdSGS pic.twitter.com/z2FuiGPpsR
— Forbes (@Forbes) March 31, 2022
Oscars: Will Packer Says LAPD Was Prepared to Arrest Will Smith, Citing Battery https://t.co/QCGKElJ3qJ
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 31, 2022
#Oscars producer Will Packer has revealed that the Los Angeles Police Department was on the scene Sunday night and ready to arrest Smith if Rock wanted to press charges. https://t.co/KVcapzsIfY pic.twitter.com/dAz3BcN2Ih
— Variety (@Variety) March 31, 2022