Michael Bay Says He Would ‘Absolutely 100 Percent’ Work With Will Smith Again After Oscars Slap

Many actors and celebrities have weighed in on Will Smith’s infamous Oscars slap and how it has affected their opinion of the legendary actor and desire to work with him on future projects.

One such celebrity is director Michael Bay, who has worked with Smith severally. Bay made it clear that he would work with Smith in the future with no hesitation and even dismissed the question of his opinion on the slap as completely irrelevant. Read on to find out more. 

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bay said that he would ‘absolutely’ love to work with Smith after the now-infamous incident at the Oscars Awards where Smith slapped Rock after the latter made a joke referencing Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. 

When asked if he would ever work with Smith in future film projects, Bay said, “Absolutely, 100 percent. He’s a very even-keeled guy. Very even-keeled.” Many have applauded his statements and think this might be a sign of a future Bay-Smith project.

Bay has worked with Smith severally in two of his most iconic movies, “Bad Boys” and “Bad Boys II,” which have jointly grossed over $400 million at the worldwide box office and been a huge inspiration to the film industry. 

A third film was released in the Bad Boys franchise in 2020, and it featured Smith and Martin Lawrence reprising their roles, with Bay featuring in a brief cameo role. The movie was titled “Bad Boys For Life,” and it earned over $420 million at the worldwide box office.

Bay has been busy with press rounds in support and promotion of his new action film “Ambulance” and, during these interviews, has been asked about Smith’s Oscars slap severally due to their “Bad Boys” history. 

He recently became fed up with the constant questions and shut down a reporter who asked him about the incident. According to Variety, he said, “I don’t really care. Hollywood gets very self-absorbed. There are babies getting blown up in the Ukraine right now. We should be talking about that. I really don’t care.”

He later opened up to Entertainment Weekly and said, “At first, immediately I’m like, ‘Did this just happen?’ Then I saw the yell from Will. That’s a real Will yell. Will is an amazing fighter. He’s studied boxing. First of all, it’s wrong to do, no matter what. Let’s just get that out there. But when people said, ‘Oh, he could have killed him.’ No, a slap is different. A punch? Yeah, you can kill someone. Will gave him a slap.”

Since the incident at the 2022 Oscars, held last month, Smith has issued several apologies to the Academy, his fellow guests, and Rock himself. He also recently announced that he is resigning from the Academy.

According to Variety, his statement read, “I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken.”

On April 8th, the Academy announced that it had banned the “Pursuit of Happyness” actor from attending the Oscars ceremony and all its events for the next decade. Smith released a reaction statement that read, “I accept and respect the Academy’s decision.”

Several celebrities have since shared their opinion of the incident on social media and during interviews. Some of these include Wanda Sykes, who co-hosted the Oscars, Ellen DeGeneres, Lakeith Stanfield, Jodie Turner-Smith, and many others. 

One opinion many fans have agreed with is Tiffany Haddish, who said that what the “Aladdin” actor did meant “the world” to her. She said, “As a woman, who has been unprotected, for someone to say, ‘Keep my wife’s name out your mouth, leave my wife alone,’ that’s what your husband is supposed to do, right? Protect you.”

The “Girls Trip” actress also said that she knows the world might not like how the incident “went down” but that it was still the most beautiful thing she has ever seen because “it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives.”

One celebrity’s opinion was not well received, and that was director Judd Apatow who posted a now-deleted tweet that Smith “could have killed Rock. That’s pure out of control rage and violence.” Many fans criticized Apatow and said his tweet was entirely out of context and unrealistic.