Marquee events like the Oscars attract eyeballs all over the world. People from everywhere on the planet tune in to see who wore what and whether their favorite won any awards. However, what the viewers did not expect was to see Will Smith slap Chris Rock on stage last year. The Men in Black actor had walked up on stage to hit the host of the night after he made a mean joke about Jada Pinkett’s alopecia. He then asked Rock to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth. Maybe this year the Academy will be better prepared to handle the situation because who wants a repeat of that? Academy certainly doesn’t.

The Oscars fiasco last year created headlines and has remained a hot topic even a year later. The event caused such a massive controversy that in response to the Slapgate, the Academy was forced to introduce a crisis team to handle such sensitive situations quickly. The Academy Chief Bill Kramer recently opened up about the same. In a recent chat with Time Magazine, Kramer disclosed the latest developments in preparation for the upcoming Oscars. The crisis team has considered several scenarios to counteract any crisis that may arise without much delay. 

“Because of last year, we’ve opened our minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars,” he said. Kramer ensures that the Academy will not take too long to formulate a response, unlike last time. Academy President Janet Yang had goaded the members last year for failing to take swift action. Apart from having a crisis team in place, the Oscars have replaced Chris Rock with Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel, with his years of live TV experience and having already hosted the 2017 Oscars, is more adept at handling off-script moments.

With the news of the Oscars appointing a crisis team to handle further altercation on-stage breaking out, fans have the best reactions to it. 

Fans further mock the Academy for having a crisis team in response to the Will Smith Slapgate

Pop Base shared the news of a crisis team at the awards in a tweet, and fans were quick to respond. Although the Academy organizers are on guard, Twitterati make light of the situation as memes start pouring in on the platform. 

https://twitter.com/DopeyTheStar/status/1628567405952745473

https://twitter.com/kudsc/status/1628633825986109440

Since Will Smith remains banned from the Academy for 10 years, he won’t show up at the 2023 Oscars. And the Academy still has to find a replacement for him to present the Best Female Actress award.

What is your take on the Academy’s decision?