Will the Public Forgive the Controversial Actor?
The Oscar-winning actor stepped back in the spotlight in Los Angeles for the first time since March’s Academy Awards telecast where he slapped presenter Chris Rock. an outrageous gesture that shocked a global TV audience of hundreds of millions.
Emancipation, his new film, will be released by Apple in select theaters on December 2, followed by a global streaming debut on December 9.
Will Smith’s Emancipation press tour rolled through Los Angeles on Wednesday night as the Oscar-winning actor turned up to support the Apple Original Films’ release in a showing that marked Smith’s first major red-carpet appearance since March’s controversial Oscar telecast.
Smith hit the carpet outside Westwood’s Regency Village Theatre, joined by wife Jada Pinkett Smith and children Trey, Jaden and Willow. He received cheers from the crush of photographers as he stepped on the carpet, responding with a hearty, “What’s the deal? What’s the deal?”
Smith then spent a good chunk of time posing for photos with the cast and top Apple executives Jamie Erlicht, Eddy Cue and Zack Van Amburg before making his way down the line by generously giving time to each and every media outlet.
Filmmaker Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) was absent, as he’s currently in Italy shooting Equalizer 3, starring Denzel Washington. (A friend of Smith, Washington was instrumental at the infamous Oscar night for calming things down, and talking to Smith right after the incident).
Smith was joined by their team of collaborators including Ben Foster, Charmaine Bingwa, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Grant Harvey, Jayson Warner Smith, Jabbar Lewis, Austin Alexander, Clyde R. JOnes, Jeremiah Friedlander, Jordyn McIntosh, Melissa Lehman, Merah Benoit, the film’s writer William N. Collage, McFarland Entertainment producer Joey McFarland, Westbrook Studios producer Jon Mone, Escape Artists producer Todd Black and more.
Fellow guests who turned up to show support included Tiffany Haddish, Da Baby, Matt Barnes and others.
Written by Bill Collage, Emancipation is an action-oriented drama of the real-life story of Gordon, an enslaved man known as “Whipped Peter.” A photo of his disturbingly lacerated back, with bloody scars, was taken at a Union army camp in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1863 and circulated widely in newspapers and periodicals. The image galvanized reluctant Northerners to speak out against slavery during the Civil War. But before Gordon became the face of a movement and a member of the Union army, he was a man seeking freedom.
“When I took this film, I envisioned the potential service it could be to modern social conversation. I thought it would be a necessary reminder of some of the roads we had gone down as a country in the past to potentially avert any of those similar paths,” Smith said as he made his way down the line. “To have a movie like this in this time for me, and even this time in my life, is poetic perfection.”
Movie about Freedom
Though he has long talked about his desire to avoid films about slavery, Smith said that he thinks of Emancipation as a film about freedom. “The realization for me that this was not a movie about slavery — when I read it, this was a movie about freedom,” he told the press.
“This was a movie about emancipation. I had seen the photo many times, and as I got to know Peter and understand some of the experiences of Peter and the way he was able to sustain faith in the heart of the greatest imaginable human atrocities. That’s what attracted me to Peter, and I wanted to be able to study and learn and to know how to do that myself.”
Following the carpet, Smith was joined inside the theater by co-stars Charmaine Bingwa and Ben Foster to introduce the film. The actor celebrated their “spectacular” work in Emancipation and said: “Charmaine and Ben changed me as an actor and elevated me as a human in the time that we spent together.”
Monster of a Difficult Film
“This project was an absolute monster of a difficult film to make. It was supposed to take three months, and after an act of God, the film ended up taking seven long months.
The executive team at Apple never flinched, not one time,” Smith said. “I’ve worked everywhere in town, and you guys are the top of the top, I have to say. There were many days when the plug could have gotten pulled on this thing, and your devotion to bringing this story to your audience and to the world, I salute you.”
Director Fuqua then joined the audience via video call to share his personal thoughts: “I had to make this film. I knew it would take everything we got and then some to get it done. But there was something spiritual and moving about the film, just reading it off the page … about love, faith, family, freedom — it just had to be done,” he said. “There was no way we weren’t going to finish this film. The film was hard to make, but I think it was well worth it.
He elaborated: “Nobody ever abandoned the ship, and they could’ve many times, through hurricanes and tornadoes and COVID-19 and unbearable heat–and huge alligators, But it’s been an incredible journey, and I want to thank everyone for going on this arduous journey with us.”
The fate of the film was in question for months, in the wake of March’s Oscar telecast — Smith stormed the stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Pinkett Smith,
Smith offered his resignation as member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and as punishment, he is not allowed to attend any Academy event in the next ten years.
After long deliberations (and reportedly public opinion polls), taking risks, Apple and the filmmakers chose to push forward with the rollout—in time for this award’s season. Apple is riding high right now, having won rather surprisingly the Best Picture Oscar for the indie drama, CODA. (It is the first stream in company to have achieved that).
Though tonight’s event was billed as the world premiere, there had been several “smaller” screenings in recent weeks in the lead-up to the global rollout.
The first screening was held in Washington, D.C., on October 1, in partnership with the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 51st annual Legislative Conference.
Weeks later, Smith joined an exclusive roster of guests in L.A. where Rihanna, ASAP Rocky, Tyler Perry, Kenya Barris, music producer Corey Smyth, celebrity stylists Fawn Boardley and writer-producer Esa Lewis, among others, watched the film.
EPIC Night!
One notable guest in the room that night was Dave Chappelle, the brilliant yet controversial artist on his own right due to jokes about trans individuals). Chappelle had joined Rock for a series of sold-out stand-up shows. In an Instagram post, Smith called it an “EPIC night!”
Earlier this month, Perry was present with Smith for another screening. This one went down in Atlanta and played host to “our next generation of filmmakers,” per Smith, including students from Morehouse College, Spellman College and Clark Atlanta University.
Smith’s Emancipation tour revved up this week, first with an interview with Fox D.C. affiliate Good Day and interviewer Kevin McCarthy.
He also sat opposite the acclaimed anchor Trevor Noah on The Daily Show for his most extensive interview yet after the Oscars.
Looking back on the March 27 show, Smith called it a “horrific night,” despite his best actor win for King Richard.
I Had to Forgive Myself for Being Human
“I had to forgive myself for being human,” said Smith, who also taped an appearance opposite Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on their series “All the Smoke” for Showtime Basketball YouTube channel.
“Trust me, there’s nobody that hates the fact that I’m human more than me. And just finding that space for myself within myself to be human. It’s like, I want — I’ve always wanted to be Superman. I’ve always wanted to swoop in and save the damsel in distress, you know. And I had to humble down, you know, and realize that I’m a flawed human, and I still have an opportunity to go out in the world and contribute in a way that fills my heart, and hopefully helps other people.”
He also said it was important to him that his mistake should not overshadow Emancipation, a film that he has frequently called Fuqua’s best work to date.
The film will be released in select theaters on December 2, followed by a global streaming debut on December 9.
