Police were ‘prepared’ to arrest Will Smith after Chris Rock slap at Oscars

A producer has given stunning new details about the now-infamous Oscars slap, revealing police were on the scene and “ready to get” Will Smith.

Police were “prepared” to arrest Will Smith immediately after he slapped Chris Rock at Monday’s Oscars, it’s been revealed.

Academy Awards producer Will Packer made the stunning comments in an upcoming interview for Good Morning America, in which he claimed Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers referred to the slapping incident as “battery” and declared they’d “go get him [Smith]” should Rock decide to press charges.

“They were saying, you know, ‘This is battery’, was a word they used in that moment. They said, ‘We will go get him. We are prepared. We’re prepared to get him right now,’” Packer said in the interview, which was obtained by Variety.

“[They said] ‘You [Rock] can press charges, we can arrest him.’”

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Academy Awards producer Will Packer has sat down for an interview about the incident.

Packer, who claimed he didn’t speak to Smith directly on the night, said Rock refused to press charges against the King Richard actor, who had taken offence at a joke Rock made about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head.

“They were laying out the options. And as they were talking, Chris was … He was being very dismissive of those options,” Packer revealed.

“He was like, ‘No, no, no, I’m fine.’ And even to the point where I said, ‘Rock, let them finish.’

“The LAPD officers finished laying out what his options were and they said, ‘Would you like us to take any action?’ And he said no. He said no.”

Chris Rock refused to press charges against Will Smith. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

There have been questions as to why Smith was allowed to remain at the awards show, where he kept his front row seat and soon took to the stage to accept Best Actor – in which he made an emotional speech about being a protective family man.

But the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday revealed Smith was actually asked to leave the Dolby Theatre and refused.

In a statement, the organisation admitted: “Things unfolded in a way we could not have anticipated.

“While we would like to clarify that Mr Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognise we could have handled the situation differently,” it read.

Smith remained at the Oscars, sitting in the front row alongside his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

However, insiders have since refuted the statement, with a new report in TMZ claiming that a consensus was never reached because officials were split about how to handle the situation.

Three sources “with direct knowledge” who “were present” at the show also alleged to the publication that Packer had told Smith he “could stay,” despite Packer saying in his upcoming interview that he never spoke directly to Smith.

The Academy’s Board of Governors have given Smith “15 days’ notice of a vote regarding his violations and sanctions, and the opportunity to be heard beforehand by means of a written response”.