“Big shout out to ‘big bro'”: After Abandoning Will Smith Following Chris Rock Oscars Slap Fallout, ‘Bel-Air’ Boss Warms Up to Original Fresh Prince Star as His Movie Projects Line Up

"Big shout out to 'big bro'": After Abandoning Will Smith Following Chris Rock Oscars Slap Fallout, 'Bel-Air' Boss Warms Up to Original Fresh Prince Star as His Movie Projects Line Up
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Will Smith found himself in a soup of controversies after slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars 2022. After what seemed to be a heated and intense time for the actor, several supporters of Smith showcased their support for the veteran actor and considered all of it to be a mistake made in the spur of a heated moment.

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Among the various people involved, Jabari Banks and Morgan Cooper have been involved in remaking the Will Smith series that started it all. With a remake titled Bel-Air, the series will likely involve greater input from Smith, now that the actor has a line-up of movies after his rough time.

Bel-Air star Jabari Banks hails Will Smith as a mentor.
Bel-Air star Jabari Banks hails Will Smith as a mentor.

Will Smith Gets Respect From Bel-Air Star Once Again

After what seemed to be an average first season, the remake of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is at it again with a second season. From a story that featured a fake teaser for the remake to starring as Will Smith in the actual series, Jabari Banks had quite a story to tell.

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Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996).
Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996).

Also read: After Apologising to Chris Rock and His Family, Will Smith Makes Fun of His Career-Threatening Oscar Slap

In an exclusive interview with Movie Web, Jabari Banks and Morgan Cooper talked about the various challenges faced during the making of the series. While the series was in progress, Will Smith had the unfortunate and infamous Oscar slap incident with him to carry the scars. The series did suffer for Smith’s behavior but it seems that things are better now. In his interview, Morgan Cooper called Smith a personal mentor.

“Man, no one holds court like Will. Just the best guy, and since day one, [he] has just been such a tremendous partner throughout this entire process and an incredible mentor… I can’t say enough about Will. Big shout out to “big bro.”

Jabari Banks further continued that Will Smith truly allowed the character to grow instead of holding a tight leash on the character development and copying the 90s vibes.

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“He gave us the space to really create these characters of our own because what they did in the ’90s was lightning in a bottle. You can’t recreate that, right? So, giving us a space to allow us to spread our wings and make these characters into something vastly different was something that they really want to key in on, and that’s what they did. And so I’m forever grateful for that.”

As for the infamous actor, Smith has a lineup of projects that may work in his favor in the future. Although it has been over a year, people do not seem to have forgotten the Men in Black actor or his violent temper.

Suggested: “They hacked my phone”: Will Smith Reportedly Humiliated Margot Robbie With Her Deep Fake Photos in Extremely Compromising Positions After Reports of Hooking Up With Co-Star Behind Wife’s Back

Will Smith And The Upcoming Bad Boys 4

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys.

Related: “We had to lose Will”: A Year After Chris Rock Oscars Slap, Grammys 2023 Drops Surprise Will Smith Performance, Cites Bad Boys 4 ‘Scheduling Conflicts’

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With the movies that made the character of Mike Lowery famous, it has been rumored for far too long that an upcoming sequel to the Bad Boys franchise is in the works. A potential return of Will Smith as the iconic Mike Lowery and Martin Lawrence as the comedic relief character of Marcus Burnett in at the doorstep.

The movie is rumored to be helmed by directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who directed the previous part Bad Boys for Life. Seeing that the people may have forgiven Smith for his actions, the fourth part in the installment just may give the actor a chance to once again regain the respect that he lost during the Oscars 2022 controversy.

Bel-Air is currently available to stream on Peacock.

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Source: Movie Web

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Written by Visarg Acharya

Articles Published: 2030

Visarg Acharya, Associate Content Writer, has been heavily involved in movies, series, and history. Having an experience of 2 years in the field of content writing, Visarg is a seasoned writer. Having a degree in Physics, Visarg Acharya has published a dissertation alongside a plethora of poems and short stories along the way.