Will Smith has had a tough year, but it seems some good has come about.
The movie star recently opened up about forming a relationship with boxing great Floyd Mayweather following his Academy Awards fiasco. If you recall back in March of this year, Will Smith, 54, underwent temporary exile from the entertainment industry after slapping Chris Rock on national TV. Rock, 57, made an insensitive joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith balding due to alopecia, prompting the hit.
During a private screening of his coming film “Emancipation,” Smith revealed that though he and Mayweather weren’t really friends, the champion athlete called him for 10 days consecutively to check in following the awards show. He stated:
“I WANT TO SAY SOMETHING ALSO ABOUT FLOYD….SO, WE’VE MET EACH OTHER, WE’VE SEEN EACH OTHER AROUND, BUT WE WEREN’T LIKE, FRIENDS.”
Floyd Mayweather, Will Smith
He continued:
“AND, THE DAY AFTER THE OSCARS, FOR 10 DAYS HE CALLED ME EVERY DAY….HE WAS LIKE, ‘AY, YOU KNOW YOU THE CHAMP, RIGHT? YOU GOOD? YOU KNOW YOU THE CHAMP, RIGHT? I WANT YOU TO HEAR MY VOICE SAY IT’….THAT WAS EVERY DAY HE CALLED ME … AND IT’S LIKE, THAT’S MY DUDE FOREVER RIGHT THERE.”
Mayweather, who attended the celebrity-filled private screening, is also seen on video smiling in agreement. A$AP Rocky, Rihanna, Tyler Perry, Kenya Burris, and Dave Chapelle were a few other celebs who attended the screening.
During the shocking Oscars moment, many thought the slap was part of the show. That was until Smith took his seat in the crowd screaming at Rock “keep my wife’s name out yo f*cking mouth.”
Smith issued a soft apology while accepting his first Oscar for his starring role in “King Richard,” and later offered two more apologies – one on Instagram directly after and another via video four months later.
Both Smith and Rock have mostly avoided speaking about the topic, though Rock has made jokes about the incident since the slap happened. It seems many have moved on from the hit as several of Smith’s once stalled projects have resumed production including “Emancipation” – a collaboration film made with Apple.
Mayweather spoke highly of the film itself, reportedly stating:
“EMANCIPATION CAPTURES AN IMPORTANT TIME IN HISTORY. THE MOVIE HAS ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE FILM,”
