Will Packer Says That The LAPD Was Prepared To Arrest Will Smith, But Chris Rock Declined To Pursue Charges

Will Packer, producer of this year’s Oscars, said in an interview with ABC News’ Good Morning America that Los Angeles Police Department officers came to his office on Sunday evening and spoke to Chris Rock about filing charges against Will Smith following the now infamous slapping incident.

“They were saying, ‘This is battery.’ That was the word they used in that moment,” Packer told GMA‘s T.J. Holmes. “They said, ‘We will go get him. We are prepared. We will go get him right now. You can press charges. We can arrest him. They were laying out the options. And as they were talking, Chris was, he was being very dismissive of those options. He was like, ‘No, I’m fine. He was like no, no, no. And even to the point where I said, ‘Rock, let them finish. The LAPD officers finish laying out what his options were. And they said, ‘Would you like us to take any action? And he said no.”

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The LAPD issued a statement on Sunday evening indicating that Rock did not wish to press charges, but Packer’s comments were the first revelation that officers actually spoke to the comedian in person.

World News Tonight aired a clip from Packer’s interview, set to air on GMA on Friday morning.

According to ABC News, Packer also said that he did not speak to Smith at all on the night of the Oscars.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has initiated disciplinary proceedings against Smith for the slapping incident.

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