Will Smith TikTok goofs hard on Oscar slap drama

Will Smith, the 2022 Best Actor Oscar nominee has taken TikTok nearly a year to move on.

In a duet video posted Tuesday, Smith reacts to TikToker Sam Rossi aka @missmoneyworking, who digs into “an absolutely unhinged exercise” that will “change your life.” Rossi suggests that anyone looking to get real with themselves pick up an inanimate object and ask it what it thinks of you. The idea: Your intuition will “speak” to you as the object, and reveal something you may not be comfortable enough to say as yourself. Smith then tries the experiment with his Oscar statue at the end.

“This has got to be the hardest flex in 2023,” writes one commenter.

It’s a funny bit — and a blip on what feels like an unprecedented public rehabilitation journey with no true end.

Smith received an Academy Award in March for his contributions to the field shortly after he was awarded it. King Richard, ceremony host Chris Rock hurled an insult at Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, causing a blow up at the televised affair. “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” Smith exclaimed from his seat before jumping up, taking to the stage, and smacking Rock in front of 16.6 million viewers. Smith immediately responded to the incident in his acceptance speech. He then spent months trying to fix the damage. This journey eventually led to Smith’s resignation from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The AMPAS didn’t leave it at that: Noting that the 94th Oscars had been “overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behaviour we saw Mr Smith exhibit on stage,” the organization banned Smith from the Academy Awards for 10 years.

Smith was a social media superstar on YouTube, Facebook and TikTok. He didn’t shy away from the spotlight for long after the Oscar win and slap. Smith took a deep breathe and was soon on his apology tour, which began in 2022. Last July, he released a YouTube apology video that would make the Try Guys proud, noting that he was “trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself. I’m human, and I made a mistake, and […] I’m trying not to think of myself as a piece of shit.” Smith would bounce back on social media by August, with goofy videos poking fun at his newly deconstructed persona.

Smith was not able to meet the deadline for his brand alignment. Later that year, Smith was scheduled to take the lead. EmancipationThe historical drama “The Great War” is available in Training Day director Antoine Fuqua about a runaway slave’s escape to freedom. Produced by Apple and Smith’s Westbrook Studios, the movie was pegged as a potential Oscar player — or would have been, if its lead hadn’t just been banned from the Oscars. Although technically qualified for the Best Actor award again, Hollywood pundits struggled to find the time and resources to nominate Smith. Smith did.

“I definitely lose a couple winks of sleep every night thinking that I could have potentially penalized my team,” the actor said in a November interview with Entertainment Weekly. “But I’m going to do everything I can to make sure everyone gets seen in the light that they deserve.”

Smith was invited to Trevor Noah’s show later in the month. The Daily Show to discuss the film — and once again dig into the slap, which continued to define his existence.

“That was a horrific night, as you can imagine,” Smith told Noah. “There’s many nuances and complexities to it. It was all just too much for me. Let me just add: It is impossible to predict what another person is feeling […]You know what? Not that that justifies my behavior at all.”

Later in the interview, Smith unpacked a bit of the psychology behind the eruption, saying that the man we saw take the stage and hit Chris Rock “was the little boy that watched his father beat up his mother, you know? It was all just a flash of light at that point. That is not who I want to be.”

On March 12, 2023, the 95th Academy Awards are presented. Smith won’t be among the Best Actor nominees. He will not even attend because of his Academy ban. But the conversation about the slap, or perhaps it’s the cultural fallout of a psychically explosive moment, continues. Data miners endlessly debate whether Smith’s famous-person stock has truly fallen; op-ed writers make the case for why Chris Rock deserved to be slapped; the British try to make jokes at Smith’s expense, much to the chagrin of society. Smith, the movie star, is on an unending apology tour and will continue to be slapped. AndA social creator needs to know how to create content.