Will Smith is refusing to take part in the advertising campaign for new film Bad Boys: Ride or Die for fear of being asked about the infamous 2022 Oscars slap and the status of his marriage to Jada Pinkett Smith, DailyMail has learned exclusively .com.
The actor, 55, has not given an interview since sitting down with Trevor Noah in November 2022, when he issued a mea culpa for the incident in which he stormed the stage and slapped Chris Rock after he the comedian made a joke about Pinkett. -Smith’s alopecia.
Then in October 2023, Pinkett-Smith published her memoir Worthy in which she revealed that the couple has “been separated in every way except legally” since 2016.
Smith responded with a brief statement emailed to the New York Times, but did not comment further on the end of his marriage.
Now the actor has decided to avoid more complicated questions by using a unique social media approach to publicize his latest film.
DailyMail.com can reveal that Will Smith is refusing to take part in any press for his upcoming film Bad Boys: Ride or Die to avoid being questioned about his personal life.
Will Smith, 55, has not given an interview since November 2022 when he apologized for slapping Chris Rock on the Oscars stage.
The actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, published a memoir in October 2023 in which she revealed that the couple has been ‘separated in every way except legally.’
Inside sources told DailyMail.com that he does not want the controversies to escalate again and wants to return to the popularity he enjoyed before the slap incident.
The source said: “Will doesn’t want to do any promotion other than on social media because he doesn’t want to get back into the slap or his marriage.”
‘He refuses to do any of the normal things he would do, like interviews. She’s not ashamed of what happened to her marriage, but she just doesn’t want to get into dark topics again.
DailyMail.com has contacted Sony Entertainment and Smith for comment.
A look at Smith’s social media accounts shows that he’s using them to promote the fourth film in the Bad Boys franchise, and last week he posted a photo on Instagram showing him with co-star Martin Lawrence.
In the caption, he wrote: ‘Happy birthday to my Ride or Die @martinlawrence! Marty Mar and I are about to get on a plane and run to all of you for @badboys, BE READY!!’
Two weeks ago, he offered photos of himself and Lawrence on set and posted them again on April 11 to mark the launch of the summer blockbuster’s poster campaign.
On March 28, he showed up for the official trailer launch and took to social media after wrapping filming on March 4 to share a video of himself eating simple spaghetti in his luxurious Miami hotel room, captioning it as ‘ Miami roll’.
But despite Smith’s social media efforts (including a Bad Boys cafe video that he captioned ‘Bad Boy for Latte’), the film has had such a low profile that film website Screen Rant published an article asking why so little has been heard about her. at the end of February.
The article, titled: It’s Strange How Little We’ve Heard About the Upcoming $841 Million Will Smith Franchise Sequel, noted that there are very few “marketing rumors” surrounding the film and said it was ” surprising” that so little has been discussed about it. .
Although the film, scheduled for release on June 7, has a website, its content is limited to a trailer and a handful of stills.
A look at Smith’s social media accounts shows that he’s using them to promote the fourth film in the Bad Boys franchise, and last week he posted a photo on Instagram showing him with co-star Martin Lawrence.
Despite his reluctance to participate in the advertising campaign, Smith did not disappear completely and made a surprise appearance during the first weekend of Coachella.
The talented actor appeared on stage at the end of Colombian singer J Balvin’s performance, where he rapped the lyrics to his hit single Men in Black while wearing the signature black suit of his 1997 character, Agent J.
Despite his very public appearance in Indio, Smith has kept a relatively low profile since the March 2022 slap that led to his being banned from the Oscars ceremony for 10 years and his resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. .
Three days after the incident, he issued a statement of apology saying: “I deprived other nominees and winners of the opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work.”
‘I’m heartbroken. I want to refocus on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to return to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film.
“Therefore, I renounce my membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and will accept any additional consequences the Board deems appropriate.”
Smith made a cameo appearance at Coachella’s opening weekend on stage during Colombian singer J Balvin’s performance, where he rapped the lyrics to his hit single Men in Black while wearing the signature black suit of his 1997 character, Agent J. .
He later addressed the controversy again in a November 2022 interview to promote his box office flop Emancipation, which he later described as “the most painful flop of my career” and “a disaster from start to finish.”
Speaking to Noah about the moment he slapped Rock, he told him: “That was a horrible night, as you can imagine.”
‘There are a lot of nuances and complexities, but at the end of the day, I just… lost it. I guess what I would say is that you never know what someone is going through.
“I was going through something that night. And it’s not like that excuses my behavior at all. You wonder what I learned and it’s that we should be nice to each other, man. It’s hard.
“And I think what was most painful for me is that I took it too hard and made it difficult for other people.”
He added: “I understand how shocking that was to people.” [to watch], man. …That was a rage that had been suppressed for a long time. But I understand the pain.’
