Will Smith's Talent Agency Denies Rumor It Is Dropping Him After Oscars Slap Controversy

Will Smith's talent agency is not parting ways with him despite rumors claiming it considered dumping the embattled actor for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars.

After reports claimed that some of Smith's upcoming projects have been paused in the wake of the incident, the Daily Beast reported, citing unnamed sources, that Creative Artists Agency's (CAA) leadership debated about whether to drop the Oscar winner after their client stormed the stage at the Academy Awards on March 28 and smacked Rock across the face over the comedian's joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head.

However, a spokesperson for CAA told the Daily Beast's Source Material: "There is no truth to any of it. [It] simply never happened."

The talent agency released the statement in response to the outlet's claims that CAA's Bryan Lourd, Richard Lovett and Kevin Huvane clashed over whether they would continue to represent the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star following his Oscars controversy.

The internal debate reportedly took place during a leadership retreat held by the famed agency at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, that was attended by roughly 100 agents and executives, according to the Daily Beast.

Three unnamed sources who spoke with Lourd told the outlet that he told several people at the event that CAA — which is in the process of acquiring rival agency ICM, which represents Rock — should drop Smith.

Lovett, who personally represents Smith, was allegedly "frazzled" throughout the fallout from the Oscars incident but wanted to keep Smith in CAA, the report claimed.

CAA ultimately decided to keep the "Ali" actor because "there is seemingly no doubt" that Smith's status as a bankable movie star will eventually return, according to the Daily Beast.

This comes after it was reported that some of the projects Smith was attached to star in had been put on hold following the Oscars.

"Fast and Loose," in which Smith was set to play a crime boss with a memory problem, was moved to the back burner by Netflix, while Sony paused "Bad Boys 4," according to The Hollywood Reporter, which cited unnamed insiders.

"Emancipation," Smith's slave escape drama with Apple+, is in post-production, but the streamer has not dated its release, the outlet noted.

Whoopi Goldberg weighed in on the news during Monday's episode of "The View," sharing that she believes Smith's career will recover.

"Some people found that controversial, but the show didn't have anything like last week's controversy, which is fine," the "View" co-host said. "Also some of Will Smith's future projects are in question. The question is, does he have a path back? Yes, of course, he does. ... He'll be fine, he'll be back. No worries."

Smith has since publicly apologized to Rock and resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He said he would accept any additional consequences that the Academy's Board of Governors deems appropriate.

The Academy accepted his resignation, adding that it will "continue to move forward with our disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Smith for violations of the Academy's Standards of Conduct, in advance of our next scheduled board meeting on April 18."