Featured Image Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Will Smith, Chris Rock
James Moorhouse
It's hard to believe it's been three years since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars, but the award-winning actor has now addressed the infamous moment in his new music album.
On March 27 2022, after some ill-timed jokes from the show's host Rock about Jada Pinkett-Smith and her struggles with alopecia, the Aladdin actor walked up on stage and slapped the comedian around the face.
He later shouted: "Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth!” Funnily enough, he later went on to win the Oscar for best actor, for his role as the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard.
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The 56-year-old has a bit of a history when it comes to falling out with others in Hollywood and despite apologising to Rock a few months after the Oscars incident, it seems as if he still has plenty to say in his new songs.
His new album Based on a True Story is well-timed, given the actor's resurgence on TikTok recently thanks to the popularity of Doechii's song 'Anxiety' being coupled with the famous dancing scene from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
Although he was banned from the Oscars for 10 years in the wake of the slap, he seems to suggest that he's been 'cancelled' ever since the 2022 awards.
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The opening line of the first song on the album 'Int. Barbershop - Day', a voice could be heard saying: "Will Smith is cancelled."
Later in the song, lines include 'I ain’t never going to forgive him for that s**t he did' and 'him and Jada both crazy, girl, what you talkin’ bout? You better keep his wife’s name out of your mouth'.
He also claims in another song that he won't get nominated for other awards because of the incident, while one line even says: "I heard he won the Oscar but he had to give it back/ And you know they only made him do that s**t because he’s Black."
Although he has obviously been penalised in other ways, Smith wasn't asked to give back the Oscar he won in 2022.
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He also appeared in Bad Boys: Ride or Die in 2024 and there are rumours that a sequel to I Am Legend could still come, even if the trailer that was released earlier this year did prove to be fake.
So, while Smith's first album in over 20 years suggests he might be able to reignite his music career, there is likely still plenty of hope for the Oscar-winner to appear in future films.
It seems fair to say that the 'cancelled' line might be slightly over the top.