Summer of Soul producer claims Will Smith "robbed" Questlove of his winning moment

Producer of the Summer of Soul documentary Joseph Patel said that Will Smith "robbed" director Questlove of his shining moment at last week's Oscars ceremony.

Moments after Will Smith stormed the stage, the Roots' drummer was handed the Best Documentary statuette by Chris Rock. The audience was still reeling from the confrontation following a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head as Questlove accepted his award.

Patel took to Twitter to post a lengthy thread, sharing "some thoughts and feelings on what happened Sunday night." He has since deleted the posts.

We reached the unproductive portion of the viral Twitter thread so I've deleted it. I said what I needed to say and feel at peace with it. Some of y'all are weirdos.

— joseph monish patel (@jazzbeezy) March 31, 2022

The original thread said: “I think what Will did was selfish. It robbed the category of its moment. It robbed the other excellent and amazing films of their moment to be acknowledged in what was a STRONG year for docs."

“And it robbed Summer Of Soul and our team of our moment. Of a loud, enthusiastic cheer for a celebrated film. I feel bad for [Questlove], I feel bad for my fellow producers. I feel bad for our whole team. I feel bad for all the people watching and rooting for us. We were in shock walking to the stage -not because of winning but because we, too, were still trying to make sense of what happened.”

He continued: “He handled the moment with grace/ It was beautiful to see. I’m so deeply moved by how much he has grown in the last few years.”

The producer also pointed to Rock's commentary ahead of the confrontation, claiming Rock "lumped him in" as "1 of 4 'white guys'" who worked alongside Questlove on the doc.

“The reason that makes me SO SO VERY ANGRY is because I was so proud to be one of a handful of South Asians to have ever won an Oscar in the history of the award,” he explained.

“What both Will AND Chris did really stained what should have been a beautiful moment for us. FIN.”

Smith has faced major backlash for his outburst. He apologised to the Academy as well as his fellow nominees as he accepted the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for King Richard.

He later issued a formal apology online to Rock saying: “I was out of line and I was wrong.” The Academy is currently undergoing a formal review into the incident while condemning Smith's actions.