The aftermath of the slap heard round the world: Will Smith's attempted career revival

On Mar. 27, 2022, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock after Rock joked about Smith’s wife during the 94th Academy Awards. The slap, and Will’s declaration that Rock should “keep [Smith’s] wife’s name out of your mouth,” became both newsworthy and meme worthy. In its aftermath, Smith’s already struggling career got even worse.

Will Smith is well known for his eponymous role in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” a 1990s sitcom that followed Will Smith (Will Smith), a street-smart kid from West Philadelphia, as he struggled to adjust to the upper-class world of Bel-Air, Los Angeles. However, he started his career as a member of the hip hop duo “DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince,” where he won his first major award — a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance.

After these two defining jobs, Smith took on career-making roles in the “Bad Boys” and “Men in Black” franchises as Michael Lowrey and Agent J respectively. He continued to start in films throughout the 90s, 2000s and 2010s, picking up several awards and nominations along the way. In 2022, he finally snagged the coveted Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in “King Richard,” an achievement that was quickly forgotten in the aftermath of the slap.

Smith’s career versatility (starring in action comedies, historical dramas, melodramas and countless other genres) is matched only by his emotional range. In the blink of an eye, the smile that appeared right after Chris Rock’s “G.I. Jane” joke transformed into a scowl and a rising hand, ready to initiate a slap on Hollywood’s biggest night of the year. The slap probably hurt Will Smith more than Chris Rock, as he apologized to Chris Rock on Instagram the day after (a quick turnaround), resigned from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and was banned from the Academy’s events for ten years. 

Since the slap, Smith has faced mixed success as an actor. “Emancipation” released in December of 2022 received middling reviews, while “Bad Boys 4,” released in June of 2024 was a financial success yet failed to win critics’ hearts.

In Mar. 2025, Will Smith released the album “Based on a True Story" — in an attempt at a (failed) career renaissance. Its top song, “Tantrum,” has accumulated a measly 3,000,000 streams on Spotify since its release — despite being released months before the rest of the album —- a number that pales comparison to the infamous "Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It,” which has garnered more than 400,000,000 streams. “Int. Barbershop – Day" references the slap, describing how everyone “heard he won the Oscar, but he had to give it back” and mention that he was deemed “cancelled.” 

The biggest irony in Smith’s artistic pivot is that no one mentions the slap anymore, let alone writes a full song about how people think Smith is “whack.” Smith is, quite literally, talking to himself in the song, inserting lines with lyrics like “I mean, he rich, funny and sexy.” You know things are bad when the moment that temporarily ended your career is now being used to restart your career. 

This comes at the same time as other artists are desperately trying to ride the wave of their previous success. You probably have not heard of Jennifer Lopez’s new album, her first in nearly a decade and the lowest charting of her career, and nor do you need to. Also, I am sure that no one has been particularly inspired by Katy Perry’s recently released album, which includes lyrics like “she’s a flower, she’s a thorn / Superhuman, number one,” and nor should you be. As for Will Smith, he has a few more years to go until he can wreak havoc at the Oscars to inspire his next album