The Oscars ceremony on March 28 ended with echoes of the slap by Will Smith, who won the “best actor” award, aimed at the host, comedian Chris Rock.
Will Smith walked up to the stage to present the Oscars and acted unkindly towards Chris Rock. Photo: Reuters
This is not the only time actor Will Smith has behaved controversially. This 53-year-old movie star has encountered many unfortunate incidents in nearly 40 years of participating in artistic activities.
1. Arrested in 1989 for assault:
Before becoming a Hollywood star, Will Smith was famous as a member of the hip hop group DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. In 1989, they won their first Grammy Award. However, just a few months later, Smith was arrested in connection with the attack on record promoter William Hendricks.
Will Smith (right) used to be a rapper before becoming a Hollywood star. Photo: SCMP
Will Smith, an emerging rapper in his 20s at the time, allegedly ordered his bodyguard to beat William Hendricks at a radio station, nearly blinding him in one eye. Smith was arrested and spent a night in jail in Philadelphia. He was charged with aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy and reckless endangerment of others. The court later dropped these charges and Smith has always maintained his innocence.
2. Owing millions of dollars in taxes:
As a successful music artist, Will Smith makes a lot of money, but his assets also disappear one by one because of Smith’s reckless spending habits. By 1990, Smith was examined by the US Tax Agency (IRS) for personal tax debt of up to 2.8 million USD.
Most of Smith’s assets, including cars and houses, were confiscated. 70% of his salary is also transferred directly to the tax department. By the third season of the show “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” , Will Smith paid off all his tax debt.
3. Intense jealousy of rapper Tupac Shakur:
Will Smith’s wife – actress Jada Pinkett Smith – is a woman with an open personality. She did not hesitate to publicly declare her friendship with one of the most influential rappers in America, Tupac Shakur. When dating Smith, he clearly stated his close friendship with rapper Tupac Shakur. The two had been friends since high school and were still very close when she began dating Smith in 1994.
In his memoir “Will” released last year, Will Smith admitted feeling uncomfortable with his wife’s relationship with Shakur. “I suffered from intense jealousy. I wanted Jada to look at me like that,” the main star in the movie “Men in Black” wrote. Smith said he was always wary of Shakur, never opening up. The actor regrets that his hot temper prevented him from making friends with this talented rapper. A few years later, Tupac Shakur died after being shot to death on the street.
4. Attacking your co-star, causing your co-star’s career to plummet
In the early 1990s, Will Smith had a conflict with co-star Janet Hubert – the actress who played Aunt Vivian in the series “Fresh Prince of Bel Air”. In 1993, Janet suddenly left the show in the third season.
Will Smith and Janet Hubert. Photo: @freshprince/Instagram Loaded: 15.24%Remaining Time 10:18
Instead of remaining silent about his co-star’s departure, Smith publicly criticized Hubert in the interview: “I can say with a straight face that Janet Hubert wants the show to be Bel Air’s Aunt Viv. Basically, she He went from making a quarter of a million dollars a year to not having any money.” Will Smith also said Hubert was “difficult to work with” and clashed with him over creativity.
At that time, Hubert declared that she would never work with Will Smith – a person she considered selfish and immature.
In 2020, the two stars made up and had an emotional reunion on television. But Hubert did not forget to say that Will’s previous statements caused her career to plummet, because they were like the “kiss of death” for a woman of color working in Hollywood.
5. Slapping a reporter on the red carpet:
The slap aimed at host Chris Rock at this year’s Oscars was not the first time Smith “moved his feet and hands” at a major event. In 2012, during the premiere of Men in Black 3 in Moscow, Smith slapped Ukrainian reporter Vitalii Sediuk in the middle of the red carpet.
Will Smith did not hesitate to slap Vitalii Sediuk right on the red carpet. Photo: Life News
The reason is because Vitalii Sediuk – a person who has a hobby of causing trouble for Hollywood stars at events, kissed Smith on the cheek during the interview. Smith immediately pushed him away, then gave him a warning slap. “He’s lucky I didn’t punch him,” Smith told media after the incident.
