Did Will Smith Ruin His Reputation With The Infamous Oscars Slap?

A-list actor Will Smith is currently fighting to repair his image and reputation.

As one of the highest-rated stars in the entertainment industry, the actor has now been seriously affected by his infamous Chris Rock slap at the Oscars.

Following the encounter, the now-viral slap was the major topic on social media platforms for a while. While many fans supported him, others blamed him for losing his composure and humiliating Rock on the 94th Academy Award Stage. The incident quickly became one of the most viral Oscar moments lists in Academy history.

Smith was incensed after Rock made a G.I Jane joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, his wife who suffers from alopecia. The star apologized several times following the incident, but his reputation still suffered the consequences of it.

Keep reading to know more.

The slap wasn’t the only thing that shocked fans about Smith’s behavior. His actions afterward surprised them as well as he walked back to his seat and started swearing at Rock. He said loudly, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f–ing mouth!” asking him to stop talking about Pinkett.

Despite the previous encounter, Smith won the Best Actor award for his performance in “King Richard” later that night. During his appreciation speech, he apologized to fans and the Academy for his behavior. However, he didn’t apologize to Rock just yet. 

Some days later, he issued an apology to the comedian and officially resigned from the Academy. Although he left on his own terms, the Oscars board decided to take action by banning him from Academy activities for ten years.

While many fans thought it was over, Smith released another video late last month after reflecting on the issue. In the 5-minute-long video, he apologized again to Rock and everyone else affected by his previous actions. Although he felt regret at the moment, the damage had been done. 

Despite Smith’s multiple attempts to manage the situation, his image has been seriously affected by the Oscars encounter. Variety recently reported this in a piece listing the new Hollywood Q Scores. 

With his roles in blockbuster films like the “Men In Black” movies and “King Richard” in 2021, Smith was formerly ranked as a top actor, and many fans loved him. The 53-year-old stood beside other talented actors like Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks. 

However, following the slap on stage and his entire behavior, his Q score fell from 39 to 24. This meant that only 24 of the people who answered the survey had positive things to say about him.

Q Scores have been a standard for measuring the familiarity or appeal of celebs, companies, or brands in the industry for a long time. For example, Q scores played a major role in the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial to determine whether either of them was responsible for defamation. 

Before the Oscar scandal, Smith’s Q Scores were breaking the roof, considering how highly fans rated him. However, they took a nosedive in March following the incident. This suggested that his previously good reputation was very much affected. Fans also believe that this could negatively affect his career in the long run. 

Four long months after the encounter, some fans still recount and discuss the issue on social media. While the rest of the world has moved on, Smith is still affected by the impact of his action. 

For example, production companies placed many of his future projects, including “I Am Legend 2,” “Bad Boys 4,” and “Emancipation,” on hold following the incident. Fans believed that they paused the projects to avoid any negative effects of collaborating with him at this time. 

Many fans are also patiently waiting to see if his apology would repair the damage to his image. They also believe that the talented actor still has a long way to go and shouldn’t be held back by a mistake he made in the past.