Nearly one full year later, the Oscars have still not forgiven Will Smith for his stunt on stage. There is no better way to break the tension than by cracking a few jokes. To no one’s surprise, the controversy surrounding Will Smith’s altercation with Chris Rock continues to linger. It appears that the team at the Oscars has no intention of letting Will get away without at least a little bit of shade. But how far do they go with the jokes?
Many found the jokes at Will’s expense to be funny and light-hearted. But those who tuned into the ceremony are surprised to learn that the Oscars had a lot more jokes up their sleeves. Molly McNearny, an executive producer for the Oscars, revealed more insight. Originally, Jimmy Kimmel and his team were ready to really rag on Will. The original hosting was to be full of jabs that some might even deem as inappropriate for the show. However, they chose to pull back on the jokes at the last minute for a few reasons.
The Oscars Gracefully Poke Fun At Last Year’s Debacle
According to McNearny, they did not want to utilize drama to garner more views. “We didn’t want to make this year all about last year,” she stated in a Variety interview. Constantly bringing up last year’s news can get repetitive, so cutting the excess jokes was a wise decision. Along with trying to stay up to date, the removal of certain jokes also came down to respect. Chris Rock was ultimately the one that got assaulted on stage, not the audience. A few jokes here and there are harmless. But hyper-focusing on the incident can come off as disrespectful to both Chris and Will Smith.
“There were certainly some that went harder,” McNearny continues. “But we didn’t think that was our place to do that. That should be Chris Rock, not us.” However, Jimmy Kimmel and the Oscars team were not above poking some fun at how people reacted at the time. In one of his jokes, Jimmy teases the audience for doing absolutely nothing after Chris Rock got punched in the face. All jokes aside, the ceremony remained respectful and in good taste. But more importantly, it remained free of any violent altercations. Check back in to catch any updates about how Will and Chris react toward the 2023 show.
[Via]