You may or may not know that Will Smith has a big new movie, Emancipation, that comes out in theaters this Friday. (It drops on Apple TV+ on December 9, too.)
If you didn’t know, that’s probably because there hasn’t been too much promotion around the Antoine Fuqua-directed film — and there’s likely a reason for that.
Specifically, the fallout from Will slapping Chris Rock during this year’s Oscars continues to follow the actor, and there’s a good chance it’ll affect the performance of Emancipation, too.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Will acknowledged the impact that “The Slap” might have on how critics and audiences receive Emancipation.
“The only discomfort my heart has around that is that so many people have done spectacular work on this film,” he said. “My hope is that my team isn’t penalized at all for my actions.”
Will went on to praise the “spectacular work” of Antoine, cinematographer Robert Richardson, and his co-stars Ben Foster and Charmaine Bingwa — and he acknowledged that their work going unappreciated due to his past actions has been a concern.
“I definitely lose a couple winks of sleep every night thinking that I could have potentially penalized my team,” he said, “but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that everyone gets seen in the light that they deserve.”
This isn’t the first time Will’s addressed the aftermath of “The Slap.” At a private screening of Emancipation last month, he also mentioned how boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. — who also has a history of domestic violence — called him for ten days to check in after the incident.
You can watch Will’s comments from that screening here, and read the rest of the Entertainment Weekly interview here.
