Will Packer says Chris Rock didn't want Will Smith booted from the Oscars, but was the comedian actually asked if Smith should be removed?

Deadline

In an interview with Good Morning America, Packer said soon after Rock was slapped and went backstage, they met in his office with the LAPD, which told Rock that he could have Rock arrested for battery. Packer said Rock was "dismissive" of the options police presented, insisting he was "fine." Soon after, when he got word that the Academy wanted to remove Smith, Packers said:  "I immediately went to the Academy leadership that was on site and I said: 'Chris Rock doesn't want that,' I said: 'Rock has made it clear that he does not want to make a bad situation worse.'" As Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr. reports, Rock was never asked if he wanted Smith removed. "We’re told that Packer is conflating this from a conversation that happened after Smith slapped him onstage, where Rock told Packer he did not want to press charges," reports Fleming. "Had he chosen to do that, the LAPD would have removed Smith and arrested him. Had Packer asked Rock if he wanted Smith removed from the building, he might have gotten a different answer. The question of where Smith should have been left in place to receive his Best Actor Oscar and give a speech where he apologized to everyone but Rock, this was never asked of the comedian. Packer conveyed his version of events to the Academy, and no action was taken. The problem with all this is that the onus has been placed at the feet of Rock for Smith not being ejected from the Oscars, which is not the case, sources said. Rock was never asked that question by Packer." ALSO: Packer says the standing ovation for Smith was not applauding The Slap, but supporting a peer.