Apparently, there’s no explicit rule against slapping the shit out of people at the Oscars. Who knew?

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

I’ve been this mom:

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I promise I’m not going to dwell on the Oscar/Will Smith story, but we have a few bits of housecleaning to tend to before we can all move on, I’m afraid.

First of all, the ratings for The Oscars were a full 56% higher than last year. Which seems impressive, except they were still the second-least-watched Oscars ever on record.

The Oscars also exploded Twitter. Huh, I wonder why?

Oh, right. So about that. As anyone who was watching The Oscars live can attest, when The Slap happened, it was … weird. There was a strange delay and then the silence, and perhaps strangest of all … the show just kept on going as if nothing had happened. Variety has the story from inside the control room and how it all went down, as told by Rob Mills, an ABC executive:

The “G.I. Jane” quip was an ad-lib not in the script, Mills added. The severity of the situation quickly became apparent when Rock and Smith both started swearing. “You started to realize this is real once Chris, who certainly knows the limits of broadcast standards, said, ‘Will Smith slapped the shit out of me,’” Mills said. “That’s when it became obvious that this was not a joke.”

For viewers at home, the confusion continued as ABC’s censor dropped out the audio for a lengthy period of time. “When you’re on the button, which I wasn’t but our standards people were, I think you obviously go towards overcorrection than letting something get through,” Mills said.

…

From there, the decision inside the control room was to keep the show going. “We had heard that Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry had gone over to Will to kind of see what was going on and offer some counsel,” Mills said. “But you have to remember that you’re putting a live show on. Had this been something that was being pre-taped, we would have stopped down. Things would have been addressed. We would have seen what to do next. But here, you have to remember you’ve got a show to do. Obviously, this was something that was unfortunate, but it was not to a degree that you think, ‘Okay, we need to just stop the entire show.’ And the show just kind of went on.”

And we are introduced to the most-stressed man in Hollywood, director Glenn Weiss.

“One quick shout out I want to give is to the director Glenn Weiss,” Mills added. “I was in the truck with him in our control room on New Year’s Eve when Mariah Carey was having some vocal issues singing. I was with him when they did the wrong envelope on ‘La La Land’ and I was with him last night. And there is nobody who keeps a cooler head and just keeps the show moving along. While obviously, knowing exactly what’s happening. He really is the best in these situations.”

I hope ABC has sent Mr. Weiss on a well-deserved vacation.

As for why Will Smith wasn’t removed from the ceremony, in part, it’s because there’s no rule against slapping people during the show?:

The Academy is a nonprofit organization ruled by bylaws, and sources say there appear to be no provisions addressing open-hand smacking across the face on the live show.

Escorting Smith out of the ceremony was discussed, the source said, though by the time any substantive scenarios were imagined, he had already been called up to the podium to accept an Oscar for his turn in “King Richard.” The show ended shortly thereafter, as a joyous atmosphere turned sour.

Another person close to the event pointed out that show producers did not want the optics of having security remove a beloved movie star from his seat, especially as Smith supporters highlighted the defense of his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. Rock’s joke about her bald head — a reference to Demi Moore’s “G.I. Jane” — invoked reference to Pinkett Smith’s open struggle with alopecia. The source indicated Rock’s joke was off the cuff, and not included in the script fed to him on teleprompters.

The Academy “condemned” Smith’s actions and is launching “a review” into the incident that happened live in front of the entire world. They will “explore further action and consequences.”  According to Whoopi Goldberg, who is on the Academy’s Board of Governors, one of those consequences will (probably) not involve revoking Smith’s Oscar. Considering they haven’t revoked Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski, or Mel Gibson’s Oscars, it seems very unlikely they’ll revoke Smith’s.

SAG-AFTRA is also considering disciplinary action against Smith.

Will Smith has finally publicly apologized to Chris Rock (after his publicists threatened his life, I’m sure):

And Jada Pinkett Smith is letting this Instagram post speak for her:

And in the wake of all that messiness, please give a moment of thought to the kindest moment of the entire evening. “I got you.”

Finally, this is the only commentary on The Oscars anyone needs:

Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill was signed into law yesterday, and Disney, having learned a very painful lesson, put out a statement promising to help repeal it:

“Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law. Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that. We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country.”

The Love is Blind creator assures you that they do vet the contestants following people’s outrage over Shake’s behavior:

“We certainly vet people, and we do psychological testing—we do background checks and all of that—but we want to invite a broad array of people into the pods. Let’s say I thought that somebody was a jerk and a chauvinist. I am not making the decision. If you look at Shake and Deepti, Deepti chose Shake—I didn’t choose Shake for her. She chose him, and in that way, it’s very reflective of the real world.”

So, if I’m reading between the lines, he knew they were hiring a misogynistic jerk, but also knew it would make good television and went with it. I mean, I am writing about it, so I guess he did his job.

Congratulations to Tammy Williams, who is about to open a television studio in Atlanta, making her “the first Black woman to own a $135 million studio and post-production facility.”

CBS News has inexplicably hired Mick Mulaney, one of Former President Autocrat’s chief of staffs, as a contributor. Stop giving these apologists and enablers jobs, y’all.

The Flash‘s Ezra Miller was arrested in Hawaii after they attacked some woman singing karaoke at a bar.

#MeToo

British cops are dropping their sexual harassment case against actor Noel Clarke after a “lack of evidence.”

Steve Haggard is replacing James Snyder in the Broadway show Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, after Snyder was investigated for misconduct.

The cast members of One Tree Hill, namely Hilarie Burton, aren’t holding their breath for an apology from showrunner Mark Schwan for his constant harassment.

RenĂŠe Zellweger opens up about how producers would make her drink wine before shooting nude scenes, to loosen up her inhibitions. Gross.

Amanda Bynes was released from her conservatorship last week. Guess her parents don’t want to be the next Jamie Spears.

New Orleans Pelicans’ Jaxson Hayes has been sued by his ex-girlfriend for domestic abuse.

I don’t know, but when Vladimir Putin is defending your transphobic opinions, maybe you’re on the wrong side of the issue?

Renewals

  • Chesapeake Shores has been renewed for a sixth and final season on Hallmark Channel.

In Development

  • Backwards in Heels, a drama about The Barbizon Hotel produced by Jennifer Lopez, has been acquired by Prime Video.
  • Floodlights, a soccer sexual abuse drama, has been ordered at BBC.

Casting News

Mark Your Calendars

  • Ozark returns on Netflix on April 29.
  • A Black Lady Sketch Show returns on HBO on April 8.
  • Shining Girls premieres on Apple TV+ on April 29.
  • The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On will premiere on Netflix on April 6.
  • Candy will debut on Hulu on May 9.
  • Gentleman Jack will return on HBO on April 10.
  • The Kardashians will premiere on Hulu on April 14.
  • Choose or Die will debut on Netflix on April 15.
  • CMT Crossroads: LeAnn Rimes & Friends will air on CMT on April 14.
  • Dirty Lines will premiere on Netflix on April 8.
  • Yakamoz S-245 will debut on Netflix on April 20.
  • Vampire in the Garden will premiere on Netflix on May 16.

WATCH THIS

How to Survive a Pandemic: This documentary follows the race to develop, manufacture, and distribute a vaccine during a deadly global pandemic. Premiere. 8 p.m., HBO

The Murdochs: Empire of Influence: CNN’s new streaming service, CNN+, launches today, with a number of titles, including this limited series about Rupert Murdoch and the media empire he built. Premiere. CNN+

Frontline: Plot to Overturn the Election: A look into the origins of disinformation about the 2020 election. 9 p.m., PBS

Name That Tune: Season premiere. 8 p.m., Fox

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Jared Leto, Stephen Merchant, Taylor Tomlinson
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Hannah Gadsby, Sandra Bullock, Buffalo Nichols
  • The Late Late Show with James Corden: Trevor Noah, Jake Johnson
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Donald Glover, Machine Gun Kelly

TUES. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Judge Steve Harvey
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CBS FBI
(new)		 FBI: International
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CW Superman & Lois
(new)		 Naomi
(new)		 Local
FOX The Resident
(new)		 Name That Tune
(new)		 News/Local
NBC Young Rock
(new)		 Mr. Mayor
(new)		 This Is Us
(new)		 The Thing About Pam
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