Oscars Adds A 'Crisis Team' Following Will Smith Slap: What Will It Do?

The Oscars will have a new addition to its awards ceremony this year – a "crisis team" to handle any emergency situation.

"We have a whole crisis team, something we've never had before, and many plans in place," Bill Kramer, chief executive officer of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, told Time Magazine on Tuesday. "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."

The initiative is a response to the 2022 Oscars, where Will Smith walked on stage and slapped host Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

"Because of last year, we've opened our minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars," he explained. "But these crisis plans — the crisis communication teams and structures we have in place — allow us to say this is the group that we have to gather very quickly. This is how we all come together. This is the spokesperson. This will be the statement."

The CEO noted that the team will be ready to handle unexpected incidents.

After slapping Rock, Will yelled at the comedian, "Keep my wife's name out your f--king mouth!" The comedian joked about Jada's bald head, saying, "Jada, I love you. 'G.I. Jane 2,' can't wait to see it." She was suffering from alopecia, a medical condition that causes hair loss. While Will laughed at the joke initially, he got upset after noticing Jada's reaction. The actor later apologized to Rock.

Smith won the best actor Oscars last year for his performance in "King Richard." He received a standing ovation as he went on the stage to accept the award.

Janet Yang, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, admitted last week that the organization's response to Smith's act was "inadequate."

"I'm sure you all remember we experienced an unprecedented event at the Oscars," Yang said, Variety reported. What happened onstage was fully unacceptable and the response from our organization was inadequate."

Yang continued, "We learned from this that the Academy must be fully transparent and accountable in our actions, and particularly in times of crisis you must act swiftly, compassionately and decisively for ourselves and for our industry. You should and can expect no less from us going forward."

Will is banned from the Oscars for 10 years following the slapping incident.

The 95th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on March 12 and it will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.