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Academy heads accused of LYING, as insiders say NO ONE asked Will Smith to leave, #BoycottOscars trends

Sources claim that while some officials did want the actor to leave, the group never came to a real consensus

Despite recent allegations that Will Smith refused to leave the Oscars at the Academy's request after he slapped Chris Rock over a Jada Pinkett Smith joke, multiple sources claim that the allegation may not be true, after all. The Academy did not even attempt to give the 'King Richard' actor the boot, sources say.

In a statement released on Wednesday, March 30, the Academy claimed that Smith did not comply with requests to go. “While we would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognize we could have handled the situation differently,” the statement said. However, sources claim that while some officials did want the actor to leave, the group never came to a real consensus, a TMZ report said.

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According to Variety, the ‘King Richard’ star was never formally asked to leave, and Oscars producer Will Packer was ‘the key’ to Smith's staying even though Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson insisted Smith must leave the event following the slap for violating their code of conduct. According to two witnesses, Packer strolled out into the orchestra and chatted with Smith. One witness also confirmed that Packer and the producers 'officially' wanted Smith to stay for the rest of the event. However, another source close to Packer denied that the producer urged Smith to stay. Packer himself later told ABC News that he did not speak with Smith on Oscars night.

The Academy said, in the statement, that it had commenced disciplinary proceedings against Smith for violations of the organization's code of conduct, which include improper physical contact, abusive or threatening behavior, and endangering the Academy's integrity. Action, ranging from expulsion to suspension, might be made at the Academy's next board meeting on April 18, they said in the statement.

On Thursday morning's episode of 'The View', Whoopi Goldberg, who serves as governor of The Academy's Actors branch, revealed why no attempt had been made to forcibly remove Smith over the incident. Smith was experiencing a 'manic' moment, Goldberg said, and any attempts to physically remove him may have ended in an on-camera confrontation.

After the event, however, Smith made a public apology on Instagram, stating he wanted to publicly apologize to Chris. Meanwhile, in his first public response since the Oscars slap, Chris informed the crowd on getting slapped at his sold-out comedy show in Boston on Wednesday night (March 30) that he was 'still processing what happened' on stage. 

Shocked fans call for boycott

After reports claimed that the academy may have lied about asking Smith to leave the building, fans took to Twitter to slam the Academy. Many even accused the Academy of 'racism' for trying to portray the actor as being more aggressive after his public meltdown.