Will Smith Gets Candid: “The Public Fall Was Brutal—But It Changed Me”
Three years after that moment at the Oscars, Will Smith is finally opening up about what it truly meant to hit rock bottom in front of the entire world—and the deep work it took to start over.
Speaking with Remi Burgz on BBC 1Xtra, the actor didn’t sugarcoat his journey since that infamous night when he slapped Chris Rock on stage. “I shut down completely,” Will admitted. “I had to stop everything and really look at myself—without flinching.”
The now-viral Oscars slap came after Chris made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, a result of her alopecia. The fallout was immediate and intense: Will was banned from the ceremony for a decade, and the internet had a field day dissecting every angle of the event.
But for Will, the damage ran deeper than just headlines or a lost award show invite.
“For the first time in my career, I was dealing with real disapproval—on a massive scale,” he shared. “I had to face the part of me that craved validation from people. Letting go of that need was… brutal.”
Will also stepped down from the Oscars Academy, describing his own actions as “inexcusable.” And while the world moved on, he dove inward, facing truths he’d avoided for years.
“It felt like a manhole cover popped off inside me,” he said. “What came out was scary at first. But then, new thoughts, new energy, new creativity just started pouring out. It was overwhelming—but in a good way.”
That creative energy turned into Based On A True Story—his first album in two decades. Before getting into the booth, he called two people who know their way around truth-telling in music: Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar.
“Kendrick told me, ‘Say the things you’ve always been afraid to say.’ Jay said, ‘If you’re not telling the truth, don’t bother.’ That was the challenge,” Will revealed.
Though the album hasn’t exactly won over critics—some called it corny, others dated—Will isn’t trying to impress anyone. “This music is about the madness in my head. It’s about those parts of me that I used to keep locked away.”
He calls them his “despicable prisoners”—the sides of himself he felt ashamed of, silenced, or simply too afraid to acknowledge.
“Now, I’m letting that messiness grow into something real. Something better than the image of ‘Will Smith.’ That’s where I am now—as an artist, and as a man.”
