Oscars 2023 producer says there were 'harder' Will Smith jokes that were cut

• An Oscars producer said that the writers came up with more jokes about Will Smith's infamous slap.
• Molly McNearney told Variety that there were jokes that went "harder" than the ones that aired.

An Oscars 2023 producer said that there were plans for "harder" jokes about Will Smith that were left out of the ceremony.

On Sunday, host Jimmy Kimmel made several jokes about the actor, who has been banned from the show for 10 years after he slapped comedian Chris Rock onstage during last year's ceremony.

In an interview with Variety, Molly McNearney, an executive producer of this year's ceremony and Kimmel's wife, said that the creative team had to get "rid of" some of the jokes about the incident.

"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."

Rock has not released any formal statements about the slap but has used the incident as the basis of jokes in his comedy sets on a number of occasions since last year.

McNearney continued: "But 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."

Last year, Smith hit Rock after the "Madagascar" actor made a joke about Smith's wife's shaved head. After the incident, Smith was allowed to stay at the ceremony and won the best actor award at the end of the night.

Kimmel alluded to the slap and Smith's win on Sunday.

During his opening monologue, he said: "We know this is a special night for you, we want you to feel safe, and most importantly we want me to feel safe. So we have strict policies in place. If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence at any point in the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute long speech."

He continued: "No, but 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 and get jiggy with it, and decide you want to come up here, it's not going to be easy."

Later on, when Kimmel came back onstage to check in with the audience and let them know there were still several awards to give out, he said: "This point of the show kind of makes you miss the slapping a little, right?"

At the end of the night, Kimmel joked, "Great work crisis team," before walking offstage to update a sign that read "Number of Oscars Telecasts Without Incident" to "001."

Smith has issued several public apologies for his actions and resigned from the Academy days before the ban was issued.