Has Will Smith’s career recovered from the infamous Oscars slap?

Will Smith made headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2022 when he slapped Academy Awards host Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, and since then he has tried to redeem his public image.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, or "slapgate" as it was eventually called, Smith became persona non grata, the subject of a hundred op-eds and talk show debates. He'd just won his first Oscar for King Richard but the accolade became a footnote to his actions against Rock.

The slap practically ruined Smith's career in an instant, he was banned from the awards show for ten years and his relationship was subjected to huge public scrutiny. In October 2023, Pinkett Smith revealed she and the actor had been separated since 2016, though they don't intend to legally divorce.

Can Will Smith make a comeback?

Now, more than two years later, the question remains whether Smith is able to move past slapgate and the controversies around his relationship, and with the release of Bad Boys 4 perhaps he might.

Following the slap, Smith chose to take a step back from the limelight to reflect on his actions, and the time away probably helped. For one thing, it allowed the vitriolic anger over his actions to cool online, with attention diverting away from him and onto other subjects.

Read more: Will Smith on family's unhappiness - 'Willow was the first to mutiny'

His Oscars follow up Emancipation was a critical and commercial failure, arguably because it came out too soon after the slap. Projects he was working on were either put on hold or shelved entirely, but the more time he spent away from the public eye the less anger was felt towards him.

Bad Boys 4 might be just what Will Smith needs

In the end, this break from the industry likely helped Smith focus on projects that meant a lot both to him and the audience — franchises like Bad Boys and I Am Legend.

Bad Boys is a trusted franchise, one that still holds good memories for fans. The franchise is a feel-good, easy watch, one that fans love because of Smith and co-star Martin Lawrence's rapport with one another. To see them onscreen together again in Bad Boys: Ride or Die will likely be a treat for many, and the power of the franchise may well help people look past Smith's past transgression.

Smith is also set to work on a new I Am Legend film alongside Michael B Jordan, who has waxed lyrical about Smith in the lead up to the movie's release. Jordan told People in June 2024: “It doesn’t have a release date or anything like that. I’m not sure exactly where we’re going to be filming that one, but I’m really excited to get in front of the camera with [Smith].”

The 2007 original is one of Smith's most beloved films, and the high praise from his co-star will likely help viewers look more kindly towards him.

Another way that Smith may be hoping to win people back to his side by taking part in YouTube series Hot Ones. The interview franchise has proven itself to be a great place for actors to be their authentic selves, namely because the hot wings are so hot the actors eating them are more open to being vulnerable, something fans wouldn't really see in a normal junket interview.

With cancel culture being what it is the public have more of a tendency to turn against a person and never forgive them, so it is unclear whether Smith will ever really be able to return to the starry heights he had before slapgate. But given his previous star power maybe, just maybe, it is possible.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die is out in cinemas now.