It’s hard to grasp that the year is almost ending. There were a lot of pivotal celebrity moments this year, like the entire Don’t Worry Darling press tour, or Tom Cruise jumping out of planes at any given opportunity. But there was one so shocking and overly discussed that it would be impossible to end the year without mentioning it, and that is The Oscars Slap.
It’s been about 9 months since the moment that altered celebrities’ lives forever (or at least that’s exactly how they made it seem), yet we have heard very little from Will Smith, the slapper himself. Chris Rock, the Slapee, has had a few words about it, though we will possibly hear his story next year on Netflix — streaming live for the first time!
Smith stars in Emancipation, the upcoming movie that is attracting a ton of Oscars buzz. But after being banned from the awards ceremony, Smith acknowledged the viral event might impact how people view the film. Via Entertainment Weekly:
“The only discomfort my heart has around that is that so many people have done spectacular work on this film. My hope is that my team isn’t penalized at all for my actions. I think [director Antoine Fuqua] and [cinematographer Robert Richardson] and Ben and Charmaine — everyone has done such spectacular work. I definitely lose a couple winks of sleep every night thinking that I could have potentially penalized my team, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that everyone gets seen in the light that they deserve.”
While Smith won’t be able to attend the ceremony next year, it doesn’t seem like there are any rules against the movie being nominated. Whatever happens…there will inevitably be a lot of jokes about it.
Emancipation will be released in select theaters on December 2nd, then on Apple TV+ on December 9th.
