Cops were ready to arrest Will Smith after he slapped Chris Rock: Oscars producer

Los Angeles police were ready to arrest Hollywood actor Will Smith after he slapped Chris Rock on the Academy Awards stage, Oscars producer Will Packer said.

“They were saying, you know, this is battery, was a word they used in that moment,” Packer said in a clip released by ABC News Thursday night of an interview he gave to ‘Good Morning America.’

“They said we will go get him. We are prepared. We’re prepared to get him right now. You can press charges, we can arrest him. They were laying out the options.”

Also Read: History of violence? Will Smith was arrested in the 80s for vicious assault

Rock was “very dismissive” of the idea, Packer said. 

“He was like, ‘No, no, no, I’m fine,” Packer said. “And even to the point where I said, ‘Rock, let them finish.’ The LAPD officers finished laying out what his options were and they said, ‘Would you like us to take any action?’ And he said no.”

For those unserved, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at Oscars 2022 after the comedian made a joke about the former’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. After sitting back down, Smith shouted at Rock to “keep my wife’s name out of your f—–g mouth.”

The LAPD said in a statement that Chris Rock declined to file a police complaint against Will Smith.

“LAPD investigative entities are aware of an incident between two individuals during the Academy Awards program. The incident involved one individual slapping another,” LAPD said in a statement on Monday. 

“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,” the statement added.

Speaking to “Good Morning America,” Parker said he initially believed the slap was an orchestrated bit.

“I thought it was part of something that Chris and Will were doing on their own. I thought it was a bit. I wasn’t concerned at all.”

Packer said he went up to Rock after the incident. “I said, ‘Did he really hit you?'” the producer asked Rock. “And he looked at me and he goes, ‘Yeah, I just took a punch from Muhammad Ali,’ as only Chris can. He was immediately in joke mode, but you could tell that he was very much still in shock.”