While most of the attention at the Oscars focused on the moment actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock, what happened next also struck a sour note.
In a now-deleted Twitter thread, producer Joseph Patel tore into Smith, calling him selfish for robbing the next category ― best documentary feature ― of its moment. He also blasted Rock for how he presented it.
The winner was “Summer of Soul,” a stirring film about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, and the Oscar went to director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and producers Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein. Rock introduced them as Questlove “and four white guys.”
Patel said he didn’t hear Rock say that at the time, but was told about it afterward.
“WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK?????” Patel wrote on Twitter, adding:
Patel said he can take a joke, then called Rock’s dismissive presentation as “a shitty, disrespectful thing to do.”
“So I’m angry,” he wrote. “Angry at Will Smith. Angry at Chris Rock. Angry for me. Angry for Ahmir. Angry for my fellow filmmakers.”
Patel also explained why he eventually deleted the thread:
