In what is possibly the most talked-about controversy of the year, the Will Smith and Chris Rock Oscars slapgate incident seem to be stuck like a shadow on the lives and careers of the two Holywood A-listers. After being banned by the Academy for a decade and staying visibly out of the spotlight for half a year, now happens to be the time for Will Smith to resurface into the world as he gradually tests the water with his L.A. Lakers appearance.
Will Smith Publicly Resurfaces at an L.A. Lakers Event
The Los Angeles Lakers, each year, host a conference, namely Genius Talks, where celebrities are invited to sit down for a chat with the team to offer up inspiration. This year, the celebrity happened to be Will Smith whose arrival was announced on Wednesday and was promoted via the Los Angeles Lakers’ official Twitter account on 27th October 2022.
Otherwise a big deal for the Lakers fans as well as the team to host the likes of Will Smith, the incident at the Oscars in March this year makes the Academy Award-winning actor a volatile celebrity at the moment. The Oscars slapgate incident which was watched live by millions and later shared, retweeted, posted, and verily talked about over the next few months made Smith a constant topic of sensationalism and controversy, and each move made by him as well as Chris Rock was put up for acute scrutiny by the global audience.
The latest among those happens to be the King Richard actor’s appearance on Genius Talks in which he speaks about strength and gratitude.
Will Smith Talks About Gratitude in L.A. Lakers’ Genius Series
The NBA team is facing a challenging season this year and amid the continued woes, Will Smith has offered up his piece of inspiration to the team that in return gifted him with a No. 14 jersey. The actor was quoted talking about “strength through togetherness, and practicing gratitude in times of great challenge.” Although the advice does directly affect the Lakers, it is also relegated to the actor’s current situation in Hollywood and in the court of public opinion.
Also read: The Case For Second Chances: Why Ezra Miller and Will Smith Deserve a Path to Redemption
The comment about gratitude managed to spark fresh rage among factions of the online crowd who had simmered down months after the Oscar assault. However, the indirect implications of the actor’s advice and his persistent efforts to pacify the audience’s animosity toward him only goes to prove that Hollywood did turn quiet but there’s a long way to go before the path to healing can completely begin.
For now, Will Smith’s upcoming film, Emancipation, is a highly-anticipated project produced by Apple Original Films that tells the story of an escaped slave on a journey to freedom about which Smith said — “this is not a film about slavery. This is a film about freedom. This is a film about resilience. This is a film about faith. This is a film about the heart of a man.” His Lakers comment is said to have been inspired by the themes that are inherently present in the Antoine Fuqua-directed film.
Emancipation premieres on 9 December 2022.
Source: Twitter: @Lakers
