This is a story that hit the NYT about 30 seconds after I put up last night's café post. The café post, for me, says I'm down for the night, and I'll see you in the morning. Carry on the conversation without me.
I could see that the first comment brought up the story. Yeah, I know I can put a post on top of the café post. I do that occasionally. But I am not veering from my path because Will Smith did one more thing.
He'd like to control the narrative, and he chose this action. If I could see who advised him and hear how they gamed it out, I would be much more interested.
From the Times article:
Mr. Smith’s resignation came roughly 12 hours after Will Packer, the lead producer of the Oscars telecast... said he had learned from his co-producer, Shayla Cowan, that there were discussions of plans to “physically remove” Mr. Smith from the venue....
“I was advocating what Rock wanted in that time, which was not to physically remove Will Smith at that time,” Mr. Packer said. “Because as it has now been explained to me, that was the only option at that point. It has been explained to me that there was a conversation that I was not a part of to ask him to voluntarily leave.”
But then we're told:
Someone close to Mr. Rock who asked to speak anonymously because the Academy’s inquiry into the incident is ongoing said that Mr. Rock was never asked directly if he wanted Mr. Smith removed. Had he been asked, it was not clear how Mr. Rock would have responded, the person said. Mr. Rock was only asked if he wanted to press charges, and he said that he did not, the person said.
So Packer seems to have gotten that wrong.
Packer also blames Rock and Rock alone for the hair joke:
In the interview, Mr. Packer also said that Mr. Rock’s joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair was unscripted “free-styling.” “He didn’t tell one of the planned jokes,” he said of Mr. Rock....
I'm seeing an effort to encapsulate Rock and move him off into the distance. I'm guessing Smith's advisers were taking that into account and maybe influenced Packer to say that. I assume there is collusion between Smith and the Academy and there's a plan to rehabilitate him, with this resignation as a device to move the public mind into the right position.
Mr. Packer said that, like many viewers at home, he had originally thought the slap might be part of an unplanned comedic bit, and that he was not entirely sure until he spoke with Mr. Rock backstage that Mr. Smith had actually hit the comedian. “I just took a punch from Muhammad Ali,” Mr. Packer recalled Mr. Rock telling him....
Rock said "punch"!
Asked if, after hearing Mr. Smith’s acceptance speech, he wished that the actor had left the ceremony, Mr. Packer said that he did, noting that Mr. Smith had not used his remarks to express real contrition and apologize to Mr. Rock. “If he wasn’t going to give that speech which made it truly better, then yes, yes,” Mr. Packer said when asked if he wished Mr. Smith had left the ceremony. “Because now you don’t have the optics of somebody who committed this act, didn’t nail it in terms of a conciliatory acceptance speech in that moment, who then continued to be in the room.”
Read that twice. It's close to gobbledygook. I think Packer is saying Smith's acceptance speech was not what they'd have been hoping for if that was the reason why they let him stay. It didn't "make it truly better," so now the Academy is stuck with bad "optics."
If the cold transcript makes Packer seem like a propagandist for Hollywood, you might, like me, want to look up the video to hear the intonation and see the demeanor. I know I did. Here:
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Can we relocate all of the Hollywood Elites on to an Antarctic iceberg? Then when it melts into the sea, the Hollywood elites will also disappear, never to be seen or heard from again. No one will miss them.
I have no idea what it means to resign from "the Academy". What the hell is "the Academy"? Does it mean Smith can no longer work?
Rock said "punch"!
Comedic license. It works better in his punch line than slap.
Hollywood, the Big Corps, Teachers Unions, the media and the Democrat party are all busy chanting GAY! GAY! GAY! at everyone.
Meanwhile inflation is running 20%, Biden is starting wars all over the place, and people are streaming over the southern border with apps the democrats are proving them guiding the way.
There are just a lot fewer democrats for a variety of reasons. There will be even fewer as time progresses.
Silence is violence, we are told. Nobody else has resigned to protest the Academy's behavior over this person. Nobody else walked out of the ceremony in disgust at the assault. They are all scum.
"I have no idea what it means to resign from "the Academy". What the hell is "the Academy"? Does it mean Smith can no longer work?"
The Academy is the group that votes on who gets the Oscars. Various privileges are attached: you get invited to screenings. It's about the Oscars. Maybe it has some other purpose, but that seems to be the central privilege.
You don't have to be a member to get nominated. Just to vote.
I wouldn't have known the Oscars took place if Will Smith hadn't slapped Chris Rock.
This is the first time in a very long time that I have had even a passing interest in something that happened at the Academy Awards.
Big picture, the incident was a win for everybody. I still think the incident may have been contrived, but who knows?
The history of the Academy (via Wikipedia):
"The notion of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) began with Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He said he wanted to create an organization that would mediate labor disputes without unions and improve the film industry's image.... The idea of this elite club having an annual banquet was discussed, but no mention of awards at that time. ... Several organizational meetings were held prior to the first official meeting held on May 6, 1927. Their first organizational meeting was held on May 11 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. At that meeting Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was elected as the first president of the Academy, while Fred Niblo was the first vice-president, and their first roster, composed of 230 members, was printed. That night, the Academy also bestowed its first honorary membership, to Thomas Edison.... The initial concerns of the group had to do with labor. However, as time went on, the organization moved "further away from involvement in labor-management arbitrations and negotiations." One of several committees formed in those initial days was for "Awards of Merit," but it was not until May 1928 that the committee began to have serious discussions about the structure of the awards and the presentation ceremony. By July 1928, the board of directors had approved a list of 12 awards to be presented.[16] During July the voting system for the Awards was established, and the nomination and selection process began.This "award of merit for distinctive achievement" is what we know now as the Academy Awards."
The Academy is the group that votes on who gets the Oscars. Various privileges are attached
Doesn't Academy Membership give you a group discount, at Hollywood bordellos and massage parlors?
Thank you, Althouse.
So it doesn't really impact him in any substantive way. It's a phoney baloney club. But having made a scene at the the phoney baloney club's meeting, resignation is in order.
This is the part of the movie when Will Smith has to turn in his badge and gun because of his hotheaded antics.
"He's an asshole, but he gets results!"
What's remarkable is the complete 180 degree turnaround.
Media/libs celebrated Smith as a hero. Standing up for what's right, defending his wife, defending the honor of a black woman that was viciously attacked. Rock, the villain.
Within days civil society found it's voice. An organic apolitical groundswell that rejected the 'official' narrative, opting instead for the clearly defined traditional values of right and wrong.
It's quite remarkable.
"Doesn't Academy Membership give you a group discount, at Hollywood bordellos and massage parlors?"
Interestingly, this conversation had already prompted me to look up "academy" in the OED and one of the meanings is a bordello:
†c. slang. In extended and humorous use: a brothel. Obsolete.
[1621 J. Fletcher et al. Trag. of Thierry & Theodoret i. ii. sig. C An Academ,..In which all principles of lust were practis'd.]
1650 H. Neville Newes from New Exchange 2 These two are the only pillars of Nobility and Hospitality; who, to breed up the young Fry in the Misteries of the Sexe, have erected an Academy, which is opened every Sunday night at the Countesse of Kent's and every Thursday at my Lady of Exceter's.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Academy, a Bawdy-house.
1732 Gentleman's Mag. June 790/1 Diana,..Directress of the Midnight Academy at Vaux-Hall.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Academy, or Pushing School, a brothel.
Of course, the original meaning of "academy" is the place where Plato taught. It's a place name.
I put the comment in the overnight because I thought it was all it deserved.
A hat indoors? A fireplace in April? A brother?
Who is this Packer person other than a phony?
Will Smith resigned?? Yeah, right.
Ukrainian propaganda.
As an oppressed and elderly lawyer living in Omaha who happens to be white (lower case) and who was educated by the Jesuits, I demand that my Oscar-worthy script “Frankenstein, Part II” be produced and win the Best Adapted Screenplay as I promise not to slap anyone.
I don't care at all. At this point, the Smiths are a joke, and they did it to themselves. I saw a meme this morning of a Jada Chia pet. It isn't going to stop for a while. This is what happens when the woke go for broke.
Will Smith is pleading guilty and begging for mercy from the Academy board because he doesn’t want to lose his Oscar. That’s the main part of the narrative he wants to control, keeping his Oscar.
The Academy’s problem is three-fold. First, they paid Chris Rock to gratuitously insult Jada Smith (I don’t know if presenters get paid in cash, but it’s a promotional opportunity). The Academy’s defense is that the insult wasn’t in the script. Second, rather than bouncing Will Smith from the awards ceremony, they entered into negotiations with his publicist in which they apparently agreed to let him stay if he made a contrite apology. The idea being floated by Will Packer that the apology that was given is not what they were promised seems rather hollow. Third, Will Smith got a standing ovation. The audience of Academy members in the moment sided with Will Smith over Chris Rock. That suggests the leadership is out of step with the membership. I think that ultimately one or both heads of the Academy will have to resign.
As my father used to say, “These people deserve each other.”
"Must I cover the Will Smith resigns! story?"
Simple answer: no.
It would take but a moment for Smith's press agent to announce that he was voluntarily entering the Betty Ford Residential Treatment Center for Anger Management.
Does the Academy require the voter to produce some type of identification when voting? Are mail-in ballots allowed?
This has garnered reams more media analysis, than Obama Spying in the Trump campaign and administration.
That sums up the decline of the United States.
Cakes and circuses
Chris Rock slapping Will Smith overshadowed the only important story from the Oscars, Venus Williams' nipple slip.
Venus Williams suffers wardrobe malfunction at Oscars
Hope it all works out for them, they seem like such nice people.
I can’t wait to see the inevitable mashup of past Oscar hosts hurling barbs at the stars. Rock’s joke was tame by comparison with some I can recall. Let’s see some primo vintage Billy crystal gems lobbed at Jack Nicholson, some Ricky Gervais cheek.
Also— try this thought experiment for fun: Imarine Mel Gibson instead of will smith.
As others have said, I wouldn't have known the Oscars had even occurred but for the slap.
Long gone are the days when I had seen all the nominees for Best Picture, etc, and actually cared about who won.
If you look up the Oscar nominees from the 70s and 80s, it makes one weep.
Not an Oscar ceremony, but at an honorary dinner, Don Rickles to Clint Eastwood: "Clint, you're a lousy actor."
From a quick google, it seems movies in which Chris Rock starred have grossed about $500 million in total. Seven Will Smith movies have each made more than that; Aladdin made a billion, and the tenth highest (Shark Tale) made about $400 million; his total is in the billions. There is no mystery about which one the Hollywood masters will side with.
The old question: could a star have committed a murder on that stage and got away with it, if he or she was bankable enough? Mel Gibson was probably still extremely bankable when he got de-platformed, so the joke was that the one unforgivable sin in Hollywood is not so much trading in bigoted tropes, but criticizing or making fun of your Jewish bosses. One actor who was charged with attempted murder and is (I guess) still bankable today is Mark Wahlberg. The violence was back in 1988, possibly before Boys to Men, and certainly before the movies. No spin doctors for studios have ever had to figure out how to reconcile this kind of criminal charge for him with bankability.
Alec Baldwin was probably going down in bankability at the time when he shot someone to death on a movie set. Indeed it seems Baldwin as producer was working with a cut-rate and poorly trained crew.
It was supposed to be a big night for the Williams sisters. "King Richard" doesn't seem to be doing well at the box office.
>>As an oppressed and elderly lawyer living in Omaha who happens to be white (lower case) and who was educated by the Jesuits,
Geez, Dave, as probably an (I guess) older (just three years short of Althouse) white lawyer who was educated by Jesuits at St. Ignatius in Chicago, probably one of the best high schools in the country, I challenge you to a duel or something. Just ignoring all the brain rotting during seven years in Camridge.
--gpm
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