The 95th Academy Awards, hosted by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, will have a “crisis team”. to deal with any contingencies, after Will Smith stormed the stage and punched Chris Rock at last year’s ceremony.

Bill Kramer, executive director of the Academy, said the new team had “run a lot of scenarios “in hopes”ready for anythingthat could take place at the gala on March 12, hosted by American comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

“Thanks to this past year, we’ve opened our minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars.Kramer told Time magazine. “We have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and there are a lot of plans,” he added.

The scenes from last year’s ceremony were unprecedented and caused a stir among guests at the Dolby Theater and on social media around the world.

Smith’s actions were in response to a joke Rock made about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, after having her hair shaved off following a diagnosis of alopecia.

After returning to his seat, Smith repeatedly shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your mouth”.

Despite the incident, Smith stayed at the ceremony and later won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in King Richard.

Although he later resigned from the Academy, it was still several days before the organization announced a decision on his membership. Ultimately, he was banned from the Oscars and all Academy events for 10 years.

Will Smith punches Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. Photo: AFP

Hollywood Academy president Janet Yang admitted last February that the organization had mishandled the case of Smith’s punch against Rock. “What we experienced last year was unacceptable and our response was not up to the task.. It was a turning point to act with more transparency and accountability,” Yang said.

According to Yang’s statements, the organization must act with “speed, compassion and decisiveness” in times of crisis. “This is a family and the values ​​of faith, unity and solidarity between the industry and the spectators prevail”, said the chairman.