Oscars installs ‘disaster workforce’ for the following Will Smith slap

The Oscars are prepared for the following shock outburst.

Bill Kramer, the chief govt of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, introduced the addition of a “crisis team” to assist handle the response to any surprising incidents through the awards present.

“We have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and many plans in place,” Kramer advised Time in an interview revealed Tuesday. “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.”

Since Will Smith stepped onstage and hit Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about his spouse, Jada Pinkett Smith — Kramer mentioned the academy has since “opened our minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars.”

“But these crisis plans — the crisis communication teams and structures we have in place — allow us to say this is the group that we have to gather very quickly,” Kramer mentioned. “This is how we all come together. This is the spokesperson. This will be the statement. And obviously depending on the specifics of the crisis, and let’s hope something doesn’t happen and we never have to use these, but we already have frameworks in place that we can modify.”

Kramer credited the brand new workforce for the academy’s skill to deal with considerations across the shock nomination of Andrea Riseborough. The “To Leslie” actor rode a quick, highly effective wave of A-list celebrities endorsing her efficiency, main some to query whether or not any awards marketing campaign guidelines have been damaged. One week after the nominations have been launched, the academy introduced that Riseborough’s nomination will stand and the academy will work to refine and make clear the principles round awards campaigning.

“You know, that happened on a Tuesday, and six days later we were able to issue our formal statement from the board that really carved out a plan for us,” Kramer mentioned. “So you never know exactly what’s going to happen. But you have to have the teams and frameworks in place and the processes in place, to come together to figure things out quickly.”

Last week through the annual nominees luncheon on the Beverly Hilton, Academy President Janet Yang addressed lingering considerations concerning the Smith incident and seemingly previewed the academy’s addition of the disaster workforce.

“What happened onstage was wholly unacceptable, and the response from our organization was inadequate,” Yang advised luncheon company. “We learned from this that the academy must be fully transparent and accountable in our actions. And particularly in times of crisis, we must act swiftly, compassionately and decisively for ourselves and for our industry. You should and can expect no less from us going forward.”

The academy mentioned it additionally shall be leaning on the veteran savvy of a well-recognized face, with Jimmy Kimmel returning to host the present for the third time.

“That’s why you want someone like Jimmy onstage who is used to dealing with live TV: Things don’t always go as planned,” Kramer mentioned within the Time interview. “So you have a host in place who can really pivot and manage those moments.”

Yet even with the workforce and a dependable host in place, Kramer acknowledged that the unpredictability of dwell reveals nonetheless leaves some issues up within the air.

“And again, we’ve run some great scenarios, but … the specifics may change, and we’ll see what happens,” he mentioned.

Times employees author Josh Rottenberg contributed to this report.