Will Smith has faced yet another setback as he desperately tries to get his career back on track in the wake of his notorious 2022 Oscars slap.
The actor, 56, had enjoyed an illustrious four-decade career, earning several accolades in the world of film and music.
Yet his body of work has since been overshadowed, after he made global headlines when he stormed the stage at the 94th Academy Awards and slapped host Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Despite winning the Best Actor accolade that evening for his role in King Richard, he hasn’t enjoyed the success and opportunities that many do after winning the coveted gong.
His reported £28 million role in slavery epic Emancipation failed to make an impact at the box office in 2022, leaving his movie career somewhat in the wilderness.
He then focused on his music, announcing the release of a new album and a tour to accompany it – but fans have branded his singles ‘cringeworthy’ and were left baffled at his choice of tour venues, which includes Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall and Scarborough Open Air Theatre.
Will Smith has faced yet another setback as he desperately tries to get his career back on track in the wake of his notorious 2022 Oscars slap (pictured in his Pretty Girls music video)
His four-decade body of work has been overshadowed since he made global headlines when he stormed the stage at the 94th Academy Awards and slapped host Chris Rock
His reported £28 million role in slavery epic Emancipation failed to make an impact at the box office in 2022, leaving his movie career somewhat in the wilderness
Indeed fans have now begged Will – who won four Grammy Awards in his heyday – to stop releasing music altogether.
His latest single, Pretty Girls, was branded ‘corny’ upon its release this month and has failed to make an appearance in the charts.
Prior to that, his single First Love also failed to chart.
He was also compared to a sad ‘dad on the karaoke with a drunk local woman’, with some even unkindly remarking he’s in his ‘Elvis era’, after performing at the Premio Lo Nuestro award show in Miami.
The release of First Love also sparked fresh scrutiny over his bizarre marital arrangement with Jada Pinkett Smith.
Will and Jada tied the knot in 1997, however Jada disclosed in 2023 that they had been separated for seven years, beginning in 2016, but remained married.
Confusion has continued to swirl over the exact nature of their relationship, with a source later claiming that they are ‘still together’ but ‘have had separate homes for years.’
His latest single could not be taken as an ode to their love, however, as in Pretty Girls, he raps about his love of all women.
He then focused on his music, announcing the release of a new album and a tour, but fans were left baffled at his choice of tour venues, which includes Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall
His latest single, Pretty Girls, was branded ‘corny’ upon its release this month and has failed to make an appearance in the charts
He was also compared to a sad ‘dad on the karaoke with a drunk local woman’, with some even unkindly remarking he’s in his ‘Elvis era’, after performing another single in Miami
He sings: ‘It’s a full house, better play your cards right / I’ma post your pic if you pose / Make one phone call, you in Vogue / Head, shoulders, knees, toes / Hold up, wait, pose.
‘I like BBLs / That stand for “Bad b**ches link up” / Poppin in the club all night in the section / Picture perfect, I swear you perfection.’
The single has failed to delight fans.
Taking to X/Twitter to comment on the music, one account went as far to tweet: ‘Dear Mr. Will Smith, This is absolute cringe worthy trash. Please don’t release anymore music.
‘Thanks, Everyone on the planet.’
It will come as a blow to Will, who – according to IMDB – has no acting jobs in the pipeline.
However, while undoubtedly upsetting, it may not be too much of a shock for Will, who previously revealed that he had hallucinated a vision of losing his career and fortune while on an ayahuasca drug trip.
Bizarrely, he made the admission shortly before his career defining Oscars slap, with the information coming to light on David Letterman’s Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.
The release of First Love also sparked fresh scrutiny over his bizarre marital arrangement with Jada Pinkett Smith (pictured in 2022)
Taking to X/Twitter to comment on the music, one account went as far to tweet: ‘Dear Mr. Will Smith, This is absolute cringe worthy trash. Please don’t release anymore music’
During the interview, which aired shortly after the Academy Awards, he admitted he was ‘terrified’ of taking ayahuasca, a drink originating in South America that is brewed from plants that cause a psychedelic experience.
People who use the drink report hallucinations and visions, including sometimes dramatic ones that supposedly have therapeutic effects.
‘I decided that it was something that, you know, I wanted to try,’ the actor said, bafter researching the drug.
He described the high as creating two realities that are both ‘100 percent present’ at the same time: ‘It’s not superimposed over this reality. They’re totally separate.’
While describing his vision of his career implosion, he called it ‘the individual most hellish psychological experience of my life.’
He joked that ‘You always feel like, “Maybe it won’t kick in this time,”‘ as he said the drink’s hallucinatory properties aren’t felt for about 45 minutes.
But then, ‘All of a sudden, it’s like I star seeing seeing all of my money flying away,’ he recounted to a rapt Letterman.
‘And my house is flying away. And my career is gone,’ he continued. ‘And I’m trying to, like, grab for my money and my career. My whole life is getting destroyed.’
The recent pop flops may not be too much of a shock for Will, who previously revealed that he had hallucinated a vision of losing his career and fortune while on an ayahuasca drug trip
The host got him to confirm that the vision represented his ‘fear in real life.’
Will shared that he felt the need to vomit — a common symptom of ayahuasca use — before he heard a voice in his head say menacingly, ‘This is what the f*** it is. This is what the f*** life is.’
The father-of-three, who has been banned from attending the Oscars until 2032, recently admitted that he wants to ‘rebuild something beautiful and powerful’ after slapgate.
He compared the moment to kintsugi, which is the Japanese art of piecing smashed pottery back together.
Will told Genius: ‘I can look at [the Oscars incident] as an absolute mess, horrible, terrible – or I can look at it as a really great kintsugi opportunity, to rebuild something beautiful and powerful.
Talking about one of his new songs, Beautiful Scars, he added: ‘I hate admitting that I’m only human – my ego wants to be Superman … The word I was thinking about when I thought about the last couple of years of my life was ‘brutaful’ – brutal and beautiful.’
He also seemed to get candid about it in the lyrcis, as he raps: ‘I hate when I lose it, but I face the music / ‘Oh, why did he do it?’ See, I’m only human’.
For now, Will be focusing on his first ever tour in the UK and Europe.
For now, Will be focusing on his first ever tour in the UK and Europe. The American rapper is travelling across the pond to play songs from his forthcoming album, Based On A True Story
The American rapper is travelling across the pond to play songs from his forthcoming album, Based On A True Story, his first full-length album in 20 years after 2005’s Lost And Found.
The tour, which will also see him perform hits such as Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It and Miami, lands in England with a date at the seaside resort Scarborough, with Smith performing on on August 24 at Open Air Theatre.
This will be followed with a gig at Cardiff’s Bute Park on August 25 and a concert at Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse on August 27.
He will perform at London’s Brixton Academy the day after and a final gig at University of Wolverhampton at the Halls on August 30.
