Oscars Producer Says Will Smith Jokes That ‘Went Harder’ Were Cut

etcanada.com:

Not every joke about Will Smith made it into Jimmy Kimmel’s big monologue. On Sunday night, the Oscars host cracked his fair share of jokes about the infamous incident at last year’s ceremony, where Smith slapped Chris Rock live onstage. READ MORE: Oscars 2023: Jimmy Kimmel Jokes About Will Smith Slap In Opening Monologue But according executive producer and Kimmel’s wife, Molly McNeary, not every laugh line they came up with made it in, including some more pointed ones. “We didn’t want to make this year all about last year,” McNearney told Variety. “I cannot tell you how many Will Smith jokes we had that then we got rid of.

We think that only the best for that room made it. There were certainly some that went harder, but we didn’t think that was our place to do that.

That should be Chris Rock, not us.” She added, “But we really liked the idea of making fun of the reaction to it last year. I think we’re all still in a bit of shock of how that went down and how after watching that violence everyone had to then sit through an acceptance speech.” READ MORE: Here’s What Will Smith Was Doing During The 2023 Oscars After Being Banned for Chris Rock Slap In his monologue, Kimmel did indeed joke mostly about the relative non-reaction in the room to Smith’s slap during last year’s show. “We know this is a special night for you.

We want you to have fun. We want you to feel safe. And most importantly, we want me to feel safe. So we have strict policies in place,” he said. “If anyone in this theatre commits an act of violence at any point during the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for Best Actor and permitted to give a 19-minute-long speech.” Kimmel continued, joking, “Seriously, The Academy has a crisis team in