The Oscars are reportedly taking measures to mitigate any potential physical altercations like last year’s event which witnessed the slap heard around the world when Will Smith smacked Chris Rock on live television.
According to reports, the Oscars are creating a “crisis team” to handle any potential incidents like what occurred last year. The Academy said in a statement:
“We have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and many plans in place. We’ve run many scenarios. 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 crisis team is designed to quickly assemble and assess what course of action to take if something or someone gets out of hand. This could include removing the unruly party from the stage or even the entire venue. Something the Academy president says she hoped would have been done with Will Smith.Â