WILL Smith might be poking fun at his infamous incident at the 2022 Oscars in his newest movie.
During a scene in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Will’s character is slapped repeatedly in the face by Martin Lawrence’s character.
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During a climactic scene in the brand new movie, Will’s character Mike Lowery panics in the middle of action – but Martin’s character Marcus Burnett hits him multiple times to snap him out of it.
The moment, which critics say is played for laughs, appears to be a direct reference to the slap heard around the world two years ago.
At the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022, Will walked onto the award show stage and slapped Oscars host Chris Rock in front of the audience and the live broadcast.
Will hit Chris after the comedian made a joke about Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
The Bad Boys 4 slap scene has gotten some big reactions from audiences at advance screenings as viewers connected it to the infamous Oscars slap, according to People.
Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman said that the Bad Boys 4 slap scene was a “direct reference” to the Oscars incident.
“It’s ‘punishing’ Smith, making cruel fun of his transgression, and just maybe, in the process, allowing him to crawl out from under the image of it,” he wrote in his review of the movie, which comes to theaters this weekend.
Months ahead of the film’s release, insiders told The Sun that the actor was prepared for the new Bad Boys installment to jumpstart his comeback in Hollywood.
WILL’S COMEBACK
“This film is Will’s big comeback and his team are going all out to get him out there,” the source told us.
“He will deal head on with the slap and how he has changed since then.”
The insider said that Will will likely speak about his marriage to Jada during his press tour for the movie after they secretly split up over seven years ago.
Inside the slap heard around the world
On March 27, 2022, Will Smith took to the stage at the 94th Academy Awards to slap the awards show’s host, Chris Rock, across the face.
While Chris Rock presented the award for Best Documentary Feature, the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
Will wasn’t happy with the joke about his wife and came on stage to hit Chris across the face once.
The actor then returned to his seat and shouted profanities at Chris from the audience.
“Keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth!” Will shouted from his seat.
“I’m going to, okay?” Chris responded before continuing on with the show.
Less than an hour later, Will won the award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard.
The next day, Will apologized for the incident on social media, calling his behavior “unacceptable” and “inexcusable.”
He went on to resign from the Academy. He was then banned from attending the Oscars or any other Academy event for 10 years.
“The slap is still a bit of an elephant in the room and Will is going to tackle it head on. He is booked to appear on a number of big US TV shows,” the insider said.
“People love a redemption story and Will has done a lot of work on himself.
“He also has a huge fan base who want him back in the thick of the action.”