Oscars Producer Claims “Harder” Will Smith Jokes Were Cut From 2023 Awards Show

The 2023 Oscars producers have revealed that they had an array of Will Smith jokes at the ready, but cut them after realizing they weren’t the right people to tell them.

According to Variety, Molly McNearney—Jimmy Kimmel’s wife and the ceremony’s executive producer—said some “harder” jokes were even cut from Kimmel’s monologue.

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“We didn’t want to make this year all about last year,” McNearney, 45, said. “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.”

As she continued, the executive producer spoke about last year’s Oscar incident and the initial reaction to the “violence” that occurred on live television.

“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.”

And Kimmel let the world know they weren’t over the 2022 slap as his opening monologue took several swipes at Smith.

“Five Irish actors are nominated tonight — which means the odds of another fight again onstage just went way up,” he joked.

“So, we have strict policies in place, if anyone in this theater 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 later in his opening segment.

“Seriously, the Academy has a crisis team in place. If anything unpredictable or violent happens during the ceremony, just do what you did last year. Nothing. Sit there and do absolutely nothing, maybe even give the assailant a hug. And if any of you get mad at a joke and decide you want to come up here and get jiggy with it, it’s not gonna be easy.”

The late-night host also added that the ceremony would consist of “no-nonsense” and have “no time for shenanigans.”

Additionally, Jimmy got one more joke in to conclude the show. As he made his way off the Oscars stage, he walked over to update a board reading, “Number of Oscars Telecasts Without Incident,” to read “001.”

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