Will Smith Opens Up About Being Jailed And Losing Property Shortly After Winning Grammy

Will Smith has opened up about being jailed and having his house and cars seized shortly after winning a Grammy.

The 53-year-old actor and rapper has had a hugely successful career, but things took a turn for the worse early doors.

In 1989, Smith and Jeffrey Townes - aka DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance for single 'Parents Just Don't Understand', but soon after he had almost nothing to his name.

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He splashed his cash and wasn't paying enough taxes, resulting in his property being repossessed.

And to make matters worse, he ended up behind bars over his alleged involvement in a fight at a radio station involving his bodyguard Charles Alston and record promoter William Hendricks.

The charges against him were dropped, but Smith said this was the point at which he reached 'rock bottom'.

In a clip from The Oprah Conversation: Will Smith, the host asks: "So right before Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I think people would be surprised to know, this is the first time, I realised... you basically lost everything.

"The government seized your cars, it took your home, you ended up in jail. You describe it in two words actually, 'rock bottom'.

"What was at the root of that downfall, Will? And the life lesson you took from it?"

Smith reflected: "When it rains, it pours. So getting into the fight at the radio station, Charlie punching the dude that landed me in jail, so the money is gone, the car is gone.

"I am laying on the floor in a jail cell and I am like, 'You've got to be kidding me!'

"I won a Grammy eight months ago. Like, what is happening?'

"And it's just the spiral when it starts going the other way.

"It's like, sometimes you just have to get out the way and wait until the downward spiral stops."

Smith is currently promoting his new memoir Will, which is out on Tuesday (9 November).

The Oprah Conversation: Will Smith premieres on Apple TV+ today (Friday 5 November).

Topics: Celebrity, US News, Will Smith

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey