Many people hate him, detest him, make fun of him, and disrespect him. But when in doubt, the best way to win them back, an actor's best method would be to entertain those haters.
Will Smith is an American actor, rapper, and producer. With career that spans from way back to the 1980s, Smith has grossed billions of dollars on his various works, and has received multiple accolades. This makes him one of Hollywood's A-listers and the entertainment industry's most bankable stars.
But Smith messed almost everything he built throughout the decades.
And that was during the 94th Academy Awards in March 2022, when he famously slapped Chris Rock.
At that time, Rock made a joke referencing Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. But as a respected individual, physically assaulting someone, who is also an actor, on stage, in one of the most glamorous event, with hundreds of millions of people as audience from around the world, is not at all acceptable.
As a result of this, Smith was banned from attending all Academy functions, including the Oscars, for ten years.
Smith apologized soon after, and also issued another formal apology on both Facebook and Instagram, referring to his behavior as "unacceptable" and "inexcusable."
But what's done is done.
Smith slapping Rock has become a meme, and the incident has been written down as one of the most famous incident in the history of Hollywood.
Then it was on July 29, that Smith posted a YouTube video in which he addressed the incident and apologized to Rock, Rock's mother, Rock's brother Tony, Questlove, and the other Oscar winners, saying that he was "deeply remorseful" for his actions.
Later, in an attempt to reconnect with his fans and followers, Smith returned to the social media after remaining quiet for quite some time.
It was on August 20, that Smith shared a post on Instagram.
The actor shared a popular meme, showing a baby gorilla trying to get the attention of an adult silverback gorilla by poking the menacing great ape from behind.
Smith knows that his Oscar slap is damaging his reputation, and also his career.
He knows that his attempts didn't go so well, because at the end, the meme shows that the bigger gorilla is chasing the baby gorilla away.
"Me trying to get back on social," captioned the King Richard star.
The humorous meme marks the first time Smith posted on the platform in nearly a month.
A day later, he shared another Instagram post.
On that occasion, he posted a video showing him and his eldest son, Trey, trying to capture a large tarantula that had invaded their home.
Whereas Smith fought a gigantic robotic spider in the 1999 film Wild Wild West, this time, Smith is whimpering, while he instructs Trey to get rid of the eight-legged arthropod.
"C'mon, you're young and strong," he said to his son. "You can handle the bite."
Trey ultimately trapped the spider underneath a glass, preventing the hairy, crawling wanderer from walking any further.
"So that's the biggest spider we've ever seen in our lives," muses Trey.
"I don't like it at all," Smith responds, adding later, "We're selling the house."