There was no shortage of jokes about Will Smith's infamous slap at the 2023 Oscars despite some of them being left on the cutting room floor.
According to Variety, Molly McNeary, executive producer of the Oscars and Jimmy Kimmel's wife, said some of the jokes that "went harder" on Smith were cut from this year's show.
“We didn’t want to make this year all about last year,” McNearney 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.”
McNeary went on to explain how the jokes that did make the cut came to fruition.
“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," she said.
Though the "harder" jokes were cut, Kimmel took several punches at the 2022 slap during his opening monologue.
“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 quipped.
“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.”
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