The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences shares that they have a “crisis team” in place ahead of the 2023 Oscars.
A year after the altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock occurred, the academy revealed they are implementing a “whole crisis team” for the 95th awards show. Academy CEO Bill Kramer announced the news during a conversation with ‘Time’ magazine and says they are planning to expect the unexpected.
“But we have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and many plans in place,” Kramer said. “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. Because of last year, we’ve opened our minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars.”
Kramer also spoke on the difficulty of preparing for a live show and explained that Jimmy Kimmel would be returning to host the event for that specific reason.
“It’s so important to have a host who knows how to handle live television and a live audience,” Kramer added. “That’s a very specific skill, and there aren’t a lot of people who can do that well.”
Earlier this month, Kimmel addressed his hosting gig in a Top Gun-themed promo video and made a joke about being “unslappable.” In the clip, actor Charles Parnell said, “ABC has tasked us with finding a host who is unflappable…and unslappable.”
Kimmel replied, “That’s good, ’cause I can’t get slapped. I cry a lot.”
