Chris Rock Did Not Advocate for Will Smith to Stay at Oscars 2022 (Report)

A new report is conflicting with Will Packer‘s recollection of 2022 Oscars events.

While the producer told Good Morning America on Friday (April 1) that Chris Rock didn’t want Will Smith removed from the ceremony, sources tell Deadline that is not true.

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“We’re told that Packer is conflating this from a conversation that happened after Smith slapped him onstage, where Rock told Packer he did not want to press charges. Had he chosen to do that, the LAPD would have removed Smith and arrested him,” they reported.

“Had Packer asked Rock if he wanted Smith removed from the building, he might have gotten a different answer. The question of where Smith should have been left in place to receive his Best Actor Oscar and give a speech where he apologized to everyone but Rock, this was never asked of the comedian.”

The producer also confirmed that the comedian was “freestyling” when he made the joke about Jada Pinkett Smith and his comments were not scripted.