(CNN) After Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage Sunday at the Academy Awards ceremony, Los Angeles police officers were prepared to arrest Smith, according to an interview with the award show's producer, but the comedian was adamant he did not want to press charges. In an excerpt of an interview with ABC News, aired Thursday on "World News Tonight," producer Will Packer said LAPD officers told Rock, "This is battery" and that he could press charges, and they were prepared to arrest Smith that night. They were laying out the options," Packer told ABC. Rock made a brief reference to the incident Wednesday at a stand-up show in Boston, his first public appearance since the Oscars. He told the audience he was "still processing what happened" and would have more to say at a later date.

Source: CNN April 01, 2022 12:06 UTC