Some commentators opined that the altercation was a publicity stunt, due in part to waning viewership numbers for recent years. David Griner from Adweek tweeted: "A slow walk up, an open hand slap, no stagger, slow walk back with no scuffle and no security personnel stepping in? Feels absolutely staged for publicity," with several tweets agreeing with this assessment.[73] Academy sources later told news outlets that the incident was not planned, and that Rock's joke was ad-libbed.[74]