The Oscars 2023 team is prepared for a crisis after last year’s slap left viewers dumbfounded.
The show’s creative team revealed in a press conference Wednesday what people can expect at the awards show — including how they’re going to address last year’s incident.
Last year, Will Smith, 54, slapped 94th Academy Awards presenter Chris Rock, 58, after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair — which Smith took as a jab at his 51-year-old wife’s struggle with alopecia. The tone-deaf comment inspired the actor to hustle up to the Los Angeles Dolby Theatre stage and smack Rock in the face.
Typically, the previous year’s Best Actor winner comes back to present the award for Best Actress — but Smith, who won the Best Actor nod for his role in “King Richard,” won’t be in attendance.
After the incident, Smith announced his resignation from the Academy, and it was ultimately decided that he would be banned from appearing at the Oscars ceremony for 10 years.
“We’re going to acknowledge it, and then we’re gonna move on,” executive producer Molly McNearney said. “We don’t want to make this year about last year. It’s certainly something we can and will address in a comedic fashion.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences previously shared that they will have a “crisis team” on standby — just in case.
Executive producer and showrunner Ricky Kirshner added that this year’s show will be different from what the audience is used to and changes have been made.
“There’s no more ‘This is what we used to do.’ We’ve rethought the show and we’ve got presenters that make sense for the categories,” Kirshner said.
He shared that the 2023 Oscars will be about “honoring the crafts and what it takes to make a movie.”
“Most people see just the actors in front of the camera, but as you know, there are hundreds of people that make movies and a lot of people across the country don’t know what it takes, but we’re going to show that.”
All categories will be shown live, including those that did not previously make it into the live telecast.
As far as music goes, the orchestra will be on stage and shown throughout the ceremony.
“As a team, we talk about not only the presentation of the music but the diverse music that’s in all of these beautiful films and the great writers,” musical director Rickey Minor shared. “It’s a treasure trove. We have a lot of material to choose from.”
Glenn Weiss, executive producer and showrunner, added that they added surround sound and viewers will have an “experience that is going to be adaptable, immersive and taking on the flavor of the winners and the movies.”
Weiss also confirmed in the conference that Lady Gaga will not be performing her Oscar-nominated song “Hold My Hand” featured in “Top Gun: Maverick” due to scheduling conflicts.
The 95th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will take place Sunday, March 12 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and will air on ABC live at 8 p.m. ET.
