WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.740 Okay, let's dive in. Today we're unpacking a 00:00:02.740 --> 00:00:06.259 career that's, well, statistically, it's almost 00:00:06.259 --> 00:00:09.300 unique in Hollywood history. We're talking about 00:00:09.300 --> 00:00:12.580 Willard Carroll Smith II, Will Smith. Actor, 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:15.460 rapper, film producer. I mean, he shaped pop 00:00:15.460 --> 00:00:18.420 culture for, what, four decades now? Yeah, and 00:00:18.420 --> 00:00:21.039 unique is the right word. Bankable, for sure, 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:24.600 but also incredibly versatile. This is someone 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:28.000 whose films, get this, have pulled in over $10 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:31.120 billion worldwide at the box office. $10 billion? 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:33.619 That's just staggering. It really is. It puts 00:00:33.619 --> 00:00:36.020 him right up there in the absolute top tier of 00:00:36.020 --> 00:00:38.259 Hollywood earners. He's undeniably one of the 00:00:38.259 --> 00:00:40.159 most bankable stars on the planet. Right. That's 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:42.509 the commercial success, and it's huge. But our 00:00:42.509 --> 00:00:44.750 mission today, our deep dive, is really to unpack 00:00:44.750 --> 00:00:47.070 that whole journey. How do you balance that kind 00:00:47.070 --> 00:00:49.729 of massive box office pull with, you know, genuine 00:00:49.729 --> 00:00:51.909 critical acclaim? And he got there, I mean, an 00:00:51.909 --> 00:00:54.429 Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA. Yeah. 00:00:54.609 --> 00:00:56.609 Oh, and four Grammys from his music career. Exactly. 00:00:56.670 --> 00:00:58.729 It's like a checklist of industry domination 00:00:58.729 --> 00:01:01.490 artistically and financially. His resume is just 00:01:01.490 --> 00:01:03.679 packed. And that Oscar win, that came pretty 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:06.140 late in the game, relatively speaking. Winning 00:01:06.140 --> 00:01:09.359 Best Actor in 2021 for King Richard, that made 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:11.659 him only the fifth black actor ever to win that 00:01:11.659 --> 00:01:14.599 award. A huge achievement. It really cemented 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:17.200 his status, not just as a megastar, but as a 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:20.060 serious, dramatic actor. Totally. It underscored 00:01:20.060 --> 00:01:22.799 that dual legacy. You know, back in 2006, Time 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:24.879 magazine named him one of the 100 most influential 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:27.640 people in the world. And then fast forward to 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:30.459 that Oscar win. But as we all know, that incredible 00:01:30.459 --> 00:01:32.569 high point that career peak was almost immediately 00:01:32.569 --> 00:01:36.129 overshadowed by, well, a single very public incident 00:01:36.129 --> 00:01:38.049 that completely changed the narrative around 00:01:38.049 --> 00:01:40.230 him. Right. It makes you look back differently. 00:01:40.370 --> 00:01:42.170 We really need to dig into how he built that 00:01:42.170 --> 00:01:44.129 initial image, that control, and then how it 00:01:44.129 --> 00:01:46.810 all seemed to dissolve. So let's rewind. Let's 00:01:46.810 --> 00:01:49.170 go back to the beginning. The Fresh Prince. OK, 00:01:49.250 --> 00:01:52.750 so Will Smith, born September 25, 1968, West 00:01:52.750 --> 00:01:56.370 Philadelphia. His upbringing sounds like an interesting 00:01:56.370 --> 00:01:58.950 mix. Raised Baptist, but went to a private Catholic 00:01:58.950 --> 00:02:01.609 elementary school. Yeah. Bit of structure there. 00:02:02.030 --> 00:02:04.930 But the real origin story for his public persona, 00:02:05.230 --> 00:02:08.050 the Fresh Prince brand, it wasn't really school. 00:02:08.250 --> 00:02:10.729 It came down to a notebook. The famous notebook 00:02:10.729 --> 00:02:14.169 story. He started rapping young, around 12. And 00:02:14.169 --> 00:02:15.870 like a lot of kids then, he was probably writing 00:02:15.870 --> 00:02:17.949 stuff that was, you know, trying to be edgy. 00:02:18.069 --> 00:02:20.889 Exactly. He admitted later his early lyrics were 00:02:20.889 --> 00:02:23.629 full of profanity. But his grandmother found 00:02:23.629 --> 00:02:25.469 this notebook. Instead of just telling him off. 00:02:25.669 --> 00:02:27.889 Right. She wrote him a note inside it. And the 00:02:27.889 --> 00:02:31.560 message was basically, look. Truly smart people 00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:34.379 don't need to swear to get their point across. 00:02:34.860 --> 00:02:37.400 Show me how smart you are with clean language. 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:40.340 Wow. And that little moment. It became everything. 00:02:40.520 --> 00:02:42.800 It was the strategic foundation for his whole 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:46.099 early career. He took it seriously. He deliberately 00:02:46.099 --> 00:02:49.219 focused on lighthearted storytelling raps. No 00:02:49.219 --> 00:02:51.580 profanity. Which immediately made him different. 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:53.900 Right. More accessible. Totally. Think about 00:02:53.900 --> 00:02:56.870 the mid to late 80s hip hop scene. A lot of it 00:02:56.870 --> 00:02:59.270 was pretty hardcore. His stuff could play anywhere. 00:02:59.409 --> 00:03:01.889 It reached younger audiences, suburban audiences, 00:03:02.129 --> 00:03:04.689 people who maybe weren't listening to NWA. And 00:03:04.689 --> 00:03:07.389 that unique style led straight to the partnership, 00:03:07.789 --> 00:03:11.930 meeting DJ Jazzy Jeff. That was pure chance, 00:03:12.150 --> 00:03:14.810 wasn't it? Yeah, 1985. Jeff's usual hype man 00:03:14.810 --> 00:03:17.469 didn't show up for a party. Smith just jumped 00:03:17.469 --> 00:03:20.389 in. Apparently the chemistry was instant. So 00:03:20.389 --> 00:03:22.310 DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince was born. 00:03:22.430 --> 00:03:24.770 They brought in Ready Rock C as the beatboxer. 00:03:24.810 --> 00:03:27.310 Clarence Holmes, yeah. And their first single, 00:03:27.490 --> 00:03:30.289 Girls Ain't Nothin' But Trouble, dropped in 86. 00:03:31.030 --> 00:03:33.069 Smith was just finishing high school. And they 00:03:33.069 --> 00:03:35.330 blew up pretty fast. Oh, absolutely. They really 00:03:35.330 --> 00:03:37.710 broke ground. You can't underestimate how big 00:03:37.710 --> 00:03:41.719 that 1989 Grammy win was. for parents just don't 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:43.819 understand. Because that was the very first Grammy 00:03:43.819 --> 00:03:46.419 for best rap performance. The very first. The 00:03:46.419 --> 00:03:48.719 Grammys were only just starting to even acknowledge 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:51.099 hip hop as legitimate. And boom, they win the 00:03:51.099 --> 00:03:53.479 first one ever given out in that category. Pioneers. 00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:55.620 Incredible. And then they followed up with Summertime 00:03:55.620 --> 00:03:58.419 in 91. Which was even bigger commercially. Hit 00:03:58.419 --> 00:04:00.439 number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Got them 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:03.259 a second Grammy. They were huge. Chart toppers, 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:06.180 award winners, all with this clean, friendly 00:04:06.180 --> 00:04:08.960 image. They were everywhere. MTV too. Right. 00:04:09.259 --> 00:04:12.219 First rap act to win the Grammys in that category, 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:15.419 and the first rap act to win an MTV Video Music 00:04:15.419 --> 00:04:18.620 Award for Best Rap Video. Yeah. They were making 00:04:18.620 --> 00:04:21.079 the genre mainstream, palatable to the big award 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:23.740 shows, paving the way. Which makes the next part 00:04:23.740 --> 00:04:26.720 so wild. You've got this global star, two Grammys, 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:30.160 squeaky clean image, and he's going broke. It 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:31.899 seems completely backwards, doesn't it? Yeah. 00:04:32.189 --> 00:04:34.769 But yeah, around 88, 89, despite all the success, 00:04:35.089 --> 00:04:37.329 the Fresh Prince was apparently spending money 00:04:37.329 --> 00:04:39.610 like crazy. Just living the high life. Yeah, 00:04:39.649 --> 00:04:43.709 buying houses, cars, jewelry, gifts for everyone. 00:04:43.870 --> 00:04:46.370 But the real killer wasn't just the spending, 00:04:46.430 --> 00:04:48.889 it was the taxes. He seriously underpaid his 00:04:48.889 --> 00:04:50.829 income taxes. How does that even happen at that 00:04:50.829 --> 00:04:53.170 level? Bad advice. Probably a mix of things. 00:04:53.269 --> 00:04:55.649 Youth, maybe not the best financial guidance. 00:04:55.709 --> 00:04:57.790 Just not grasping the implications of earning 00:04:57.790 --> 00:04:59.889 that much money that fast. So what was the fallout? 00:04:59.889 --> 00:05:02.389 We hear this $2 .8 million figure. Yeah, that 00:05:02.389 --> 00:05:04.529 was the tax debt the IRS assessed against him. 00:05:04.589 --> 00:05:07.290 And they came after it hard. Seized his stuff, 00:05:07.490 --> 00:05:10.610 cars, property, you name it. Started garnishing 00:05:10.610 --> 00:05:13.430 his income. So even as he's releasing hits. The 00:05:13.430 --> 00:05:15.629 government is taking a huge chunk of the money 00:05:15.629 --> 00:05:19.360 coming in. He went from millionaire to essentially 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:22.519 broke and deeply in debt almost overnight. It 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:24.839 must have been terrifying. So the acting pivot, 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:27.899 it wasn't just a career move. It was survival. 00:05:28.259 --> 00:05:31.220 Absolutely. 1990 rolls around. He's in this massive 00:05:31.220 --> 00:05:34.639 financial hole. And NBC comes calling. They see 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:37.139 the appeal, the charisma he has. And they build 00:05:37.139 --> 00:05:39.500 a whole sitcom around him, The Fresh Prince of 00:05:39.500 --> 00:05:41.800 Bel -Air. Exactly. It wasn't just, let's try 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:44.709 acting. It was. I need this to work. He had to 00:05:44.709 --> 00:05:46.910 move across the country, learn a whole new skill 00:05:46.910 --> 00:05:49.750 set. But the show was a massive hit. And it let 00:05:49.750 --> 00:05:52.689 him pay off that huge tax debt, right? Took a 00:05:52.689 --> 00:05:55.339 few years, but yeah. It totally saved him financially. 00:05:55.480 --> 00:05:57.879 And it just completely changed his path. He wasn't 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:00.060 a rapper who acted anymore. He was becoming an 00:06:00.060 --> 00:06:02.199 actor who also did music. And the show itself, 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:06.160 its cultural impact was enormous. Oh, huge. Fresh 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:08.500 Prince is rightly seen as a landmark for black 00:06:08.500 --> 00:06:10.819 television, for hip -hop culture crossing over, 00:06:10.899 --> 00:06:13.279 showing a young black man in that wealthy Bel 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:15.519 -Air setting. That was revolutionary for network 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:18.519 TV back then. It really legitimized that rapper 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:20.899 -to -actor pipeline, and it let him keep that 00:06:20.899 --> 00:06:24.100 clean, aspirational image going, the one he'd 00:06:24.100 --> 00:06:26.459 built ever since his grandma's note, hashtag 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:30.019 tag three, Hollywood ascendancy and dual career 00:06:30.019 --> 00:06:34.000 peaks, 1993 -2007. Right. So once Fresh Prince 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:36.160 established him and got him out of that financial 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:39.680 mess, Smith wasn't just reacting anymore. He 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:42.589 started planning. Strategically. This is where 00:06:42.589 --> 00:06:44.370 he sets that famous goal, right? Biggest movie 00:06:44.370 --> 00:06:46.029 star in the world. Yeah, he actually said that 00:06:46.029 --> 00:06:48.230 out loud. And it wasn't just talk. He got methodical 00:06:48.230 --> 00:06:50.850 about it. What did that mean? Studying box office 00:06:50.850 --> 00:06:52.870 hits. How does that work? He literally looked 00:06:52.870 --> 00:06:55.149 at the data. What movies made the most money 00:06:55.149 --> 00:06:58.310 globally in the 80s and early 90s? What do they 00:06:58.310 --> 00:07:00.189 have in common? And what did you find? Simple 00:07:00.189 --> 00:07:03.069 stories. Often. Things that played well everywhere 00:07:03.069 --> 00:07:05.649 didn't need complex translation. Universal themes, 00:07:05.850 --> 00:07:08.529 family, heroism. Fighting aliens apparently helps 00:07:08.529 --> 00:07:11.389 too. Huh. Right. So high concept sci -fi and 00:07:11.389 --> 00:07:13.670 big action movies. He figured that was the formula 00:07:13.670 --> 00:07:16.449 for a global billion dollar appeal. He was basically 00:07:16.449 --> 00:07:18.550 a reverse engineering superstardom from market 00:07:18.550 --> 00:07:20.870 research. Pretty smart, actually. And he started 00:07:20.870 --> 00:07:23.050 putting it into practice quickly. After Fresh 00:07:23.050 --> 00:07:25.850 Prince, he did Six Degrees of Separation, which 00:07:25.850 --> 00:07:28.949 was serious drama. Showed his range. But then 00:07:28.949 --> 00:07:31.889 came Bad Boys in 95. With Martin Lawrence, Michael 00:07:31.889 --> 00:07:33.750 Bay directing, that felt like the blueprint. 00:07:34.029 --> 00:07:37.170 Exactly. It proved the concept. Made over $140 00:07:37.170 --> 00:07:40.050 million worldwide on a decent budget. showed 00:07:40.050 --> 00:07:42.250 he could carry a big action comedy franchise. 00:07:42.930 --> 00:07:46.029 But the real monster hit, the proof of his theory, 00:07:46.189 --> 00:07:50.589 was the year after. Independence Day, 1996. That 00:07:50.589 --> 00:07:52.810 film was everywhere. It was the definition of 00:07:52.810 --> 00:07:55.750 a global blockbuster. Fighting aliens, huge spectacle. 00:07:56.329 --> 00:07:58.410 Exactly what his research pointed to. At the 00:07:58.410 --> 00:08:00.649 time, it was the second highest grossing film 00:08:00.649 --> 00:08:03.230 ever, just buying Titanic. Wow. So that's when 00:08:03.230 --> 00:08:05.269 he really became Will Smith, the movie star. 00:08:05.310 --> 00:08:06.790 Absolutely. That movie made him indispensable. 00:08:07.110 --> 00:08:09.709 His name alone could get a massive film greenlit. 00:08:09.850 --> 00:08:13.050 And then the next year, 97, he doubles down with 00:08:13.050 --> 00:08:15.310 Men in Black. Which was just perfect for him, 00:08:15.350 --> 00:08:17.709 wasn't it? Sci -fi, action, comedy. It made a 00:08:17.709 --> 00:08:21.410 fortune. Over $589 million globally. Third biggest 00:08:21.410 --> 00:08:24.110 film of the year. It just crystallized his brand. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.420 But Men in Black was more than just the movie, 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:28.000 right? This is where the music strategy comes 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.959 back in. Yes. This was genius. He launched his 00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:34.279 solo music career with the theme song Men in 00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:36.279 Black. So the movie sells the song, the song 00:08:36.279 --> 00:08:39.200 sells the movie. Exactly. Cross -promotion perfection. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:42.639 The single was massive, top charts everywhere, 00:08:42.899 --> 00:08:45.340 won him another Grammy, this time for Best Rap 00:08:45.340 --> 00:08:48.960 Solo Performance. And the album it was on... 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:51.539 Big Willie style. Went platinum how many times? 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:54.100 Nine times platinum in the U .S. Incredible. 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:56.620 It wasn't just success. It was total market dominance. 00:08:56.940 --> 00:08:58.940 And he kept that formula going. Nailed it again. 00:08:59.139 --> 00:09:01.879 Getting jiggy with it. In 98, his first number 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:03.720 one on the Billboard Hot 100, another Grammy. 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:06.320 Then Wild Wild West in 99, another number one 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.620 hit. Tied directly to the movie, he built this 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:11.620 multimedia empire around himself. A self -funding 00:09:11.620 --> 00:09:13.860 cash machine. Okay, but speaking of Wild Wild 00:09:13.860 --> 00:09:17.340 West, this brings us to maybe the biggest what 00:09:17.340 --> 00:09:21.820 if in his career. The Matrix. Ah, yes. The legendary 00:09:21.820 --> 00:09:24.120 decision. She turned down the role of Neo in 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:26.779 The Matrix to make Wild Wild West. And The Matrix 00:09:26.779 --> 00:09:29.159 changed everything. Wild Wild West. Well, the 00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:32.460 song was huge, but the movie, not so much. It 00:09:32.460 --> 00:09:34.940 was a critical flop and didn't perform as expected 00:09:34.940 --> 00:09:38.220 commercially either. So looking back, choosing 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:40.139 the steampunk western over the revolutionary 00:09:40.139 --> 00:09:45.159 sci -fi epic seems questionable. especially given 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:47.179 his data -driven approach. Did he ever regret 00:09:47.179 --> 00:09:49.279 it? He said he didn't, right? That Keanu Reeves 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.159 was better for Neo. That's what he maintains. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:53.480 He said when he read the script for The Matrix, 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:56.399 he just didn't quite get it. He didn't understand 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:58.659 the Wachowskis' vision, especially the complex 00:09:58.659 --> 00:10:01.000 visual stuff they were planning. Remember, they'd 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.580 only made Bound before that. So he thought he 00:10:03.580 --> 00:10:06.399 might mess it up? Sort of. He framed it like 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:08.440 he didn't want to be the one responsible for 00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:10.139 ruining something potentially revolutionary. 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:13.220 And he genuinely seems to believe Keanu was the 00:10:13.220 --> 00:10:16.559 perfect choice. He did admit, though, that Wild 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:19.379 Wild West could have been better, which is maybe 00:10:19.379 --> 00:10:22.139 an understatement. Interesting. So even the calculated 00:10:22.139 --> 00:10:24.700 star recognized his limits or maybe just had 00:10:24.700 --> 00:10:27.139 a moment of doubt. But he bounced back. He started 00:10:27.139 --> 00:10:29.399 chasing critical respect, too. Absolutely. The 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:31.379 blockbusters kept coming, but he wanted that 00:10:31.379 --> 00:10:35.159 validation. Playing Muhammad Ali in Nali in 2001, 00:10:35.460 --> 00:10:38.649 that was a huge undertaking. He completely transformed 00:10:38.649 --> 00:10:42.210 himself for that role. Physically, vocally. Obsessively. 00:10:42.370 --> 00:10:45.110 And it paid off. Got him his first Oscar nomination 00:10:45.110 --> 00:10:47.309 for Best Actor. And then again with The Pursuit 00:10:47.309 --> 00:10:49.610 of Happiness in 2006. Yeah, a really powerful 00:10:49.610 --> 00:10:51.889 emotional performance. Co -starring with his 00:10:51.889 --> 00:10:54.909 son Jaden, got him his second Best Actor nomination. 00:10:55.690 --> 00:10:58.250 So he was successfully balancing the huge commercial 00:10:58.250 --> 00:11:01.389 hits with these acclaimed dramatic roles. He 00:11:01.389 --> 00:11:03.649 really seemed unstoppable during this period. 00:11:03.710 --> 00:11:06.210 Pretty much. It all kind of culminated in 2007 00:11:06.210 --> 00:11:09.370 with I Am Legend, post -apocalyptic thriller, 00:11:09.570 --> 00:11:12.269 basically him alone on screen for large parts 00:11:12.269 --> 00:11:14.330 of it. It was massive, right? Biggest December 00:11:14.330 --> 00:11:16.389 opening ever at the time. Yep. It completely 00:11:16.389 --> 00:11:19.240 owned the holiday season. Industry analysts basically 00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:21.840 crowned him the undisputed number one box office 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.279 draw in the world at that point. The data backed 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:26.039 it up. And wasn't there some Guinness World Record 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:29.639 thing around then, too? Yeah. In 2005, for attending 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:31.820 three movie premieres in different cities within 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:35.139 24 hours, just shows the sheer scale of his global 00:11:35.139 --> 00:11:37.240 promotional power back then. He was literally 00:11:37.240 --> 00:11:40.460 everywhere. Hashtag hashtag 4D, career fluctuations, 00:11:40.820 --> 00:11:44.559 family and personal deepening. 2008, 2021. But 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:47.840 even at that peak, maybe some signs of challenges 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:50.899 starting to appear as we move towards the late 00:11:50.899 --> 00:11:54.320 2000s. It wasn't always about choosing the wrong 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:56.379 project. Sometimes it was about passing on the 00:11:56.379 --> 00:11:59.259 right one again. Right. Like Inception, Christopher 00:11:59.259 --> 00:12:02.799 Nolan's film. Around 2008, 2009, he turned down 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:04.919 the lead role. And his reason was similar to 00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:07.409 The Matrix, wasn't it? Too complex. Pretty much. 00:12:07.409 --> 00:12:08.990 He said he just didn't really understand the 00:12:08.990 --> 00:12:12.029 story. It suggests he still preferred clearer, 00:12:12.330 --> 00:12:14.549 more straightforward narratives, maybe worried 00:12:14.549 --> 00:12:16.470 that ambiguity wouldn't play as well globally. 00:12:16.649 --> 00:12:18.509 Interesting, because that kind of highlights 00:12:18.509 --> 00:12:20.629 attention, doesn't it? Wanting to be the biggest 00:12:20.629 --> 00:12:23.629 star, which often means broad appeal, versus 00:12:23.629 --> 00:12:26.970 taking risks on more complex, maybe less universally 00:12:26.970 --> 00:12:29.799 accessible material. Exactly. And while he still 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:32.899 had huge hits, Men in Black 3 in 2012 made a 00:12:32.899 --> 00:12:35.879 ton of money, $624 million globally. More than 00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:38.320 the first two, unadjusted. Yeah. But relying 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:40.580 on sequels maybe showed a slight reluctance to 00:12:40.580 --> 00:12:42.919 launch totally new original stuff at that point. 00:12:43.059 --> 00:12:45.100 And then came the project that really felt like 00:12:45.100 --> 00:12:47.399 a stumble, the one with his son Jaden, After 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:50.740 Earth. Oof. Yeah, 2013, he called that the most 00:12:50.740 --> 00:12:53.460 painful failure of my career. Why so painful? 00:12:53.580 --> 00:12:55.980 Just the box office. It was bad critically and 00:12:55.980 --> 00:12:58.350 didn't do well domestically, yeah. But he talked 00:12:58.350 --> 00:13:00.690 about the psychological impact, the hit to his 00:13:00.690 --> 00:13:04.169 ego, sure, but also feeling responsible because 00:13:04.169 --> 00:13:06.350 he'd put Jaden front and center in this massive, 00:13:06.429 --> 00:13:09.529 expensive sci -fi movie that just cratered. That 00:13:09.529 --> 00:13:11.409 makes sense. He took a break after that, didn't 00:13:11.409 --> 00:13:13.529 he? Yeah, quite a long one, about 18 months off 00:13:13.529 --> 00:13:15.629 from acting. Said he needed time to regroup, 00:13:15.710 --> 00:13:18.110 figure things out after that kind of public failure. 00:13:18.289 --> 00:13:21.450 And when he came back, the roles felt different, 00:13:21.750 --> 00:13:24.980 weightier. Like concussion in 2015. Definitely. 00:13:25.179 --> 00:13:27.379 Yeah. Playing Dr. Bennett Omalu, the doctor who 00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:30.779 discovered CTE, the brain disease linked to football 00:13:30.779 --> 00:13:32.720 head injuries. That was a brave choice taking 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:34.919 on the NFL. Yeah. And Smith apparently had doubts 00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:37.240 initially, worried about alienating that huge 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:39.519 football fan base, the same audience who loved 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:42.159 his blockbusters. What changed his mind? He said 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:46.240 he was really moved by Dr. Omalu himself. Omalu 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:48.580 was an immigrant who felt a duty to expose the 00:13:48.580 --> 00:13:51.259 truth because he believes so strongly in American 00:13:51.259 --> 00:13:53.720 ideals. Smith seemed to connect with that wanting 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:55.740 to use his platform for something meaningful, 00:13:55.940 --> 00:13:58.460 even if it was risky commercially. That search 00:13:58.460 --> 00:14:00.580 for meaning seems to continue with Collateral 00:14:00.580 --> 00:14:03.620 Beauty the next year, 2016. But that one had 00:14:03.620 --> 00:14:06.539 a really sad personal connection for him. It 00:14:06.539 --> 00:14:09.120 really did. His own father was diagnosed with 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:11.960 cancer right after he signed on. The film deals 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:16.539 heavily with grief, loss, how you cope. So the 00:14:16.539 --> 00:14:19.429 research for the role became... personal preparation. 00:14:19.750 --> 00:14:22.389 Exactly. He said reading about religion, philosophy, 00:14:22.570 --> 00:14:24.870 how different cultures handle death, it actually 00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:26.730 helped him prepare for his father passing away 00:14:26.730 --> 00:14:28.830 later that year. He talked about being there 00:14:28.830 --> 00:14:30.730 with him at the end, finding a sense of peace, 00:14:30.950 --> 00:14:34.029 art, imitating life or maybe helping life in 00:14:34.029 --> 00:14:36.149 a really profound way. Though the film itself 00:14:36.149 --> 00:14:38.330 didn't do well commercially. No, it was actually 00:14:38.330 --> 00:14:41.129 his lowest box office opening ever at that point. 00:14:41.230 --> 00:14:43.590 And late 2010s had other commercial struggles, 00:14:43.669 --> 00:14:46.899 despite big budgets. Bright for Netflix, Gemini 00:14:46.899 --> 00:14:49.100 Man. Yeah, critics were pretty harsh on both 00:14:49.100 --> 00:14:51.519 of those. Bright got called things like truly 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:55.340 terrible. Gemini Man, despite the tech angle 00:14:55.340 --> 00:14:59.059 with Ang Lee, also got panned. It showed that 00:14:59.059 --> 00:15:01.539 even his star power and a huge budget weren't 00:15:01.539 --> 00:15:03.940 a guaranteed formula anymore. Although Bright 00:15:03.940 --> 00:15:06.460 did get massive viewership on Netflix. It did. 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:08.860 Set a record for first week views at the time. 00:15:08.940 --> 00:15:11.220 So his name still drove eyeballs, especially 00:15:11.220 --> 00:15:13.490 on streaming. Even if critics hated the movie, 00:15:13.649 --> 00:15:15.870 people still wanted to see Will Smith. And then 00:15:15.870 --> 00:15:17.570 just when you think maybe the blockbuster magic 00:15:17.570 --> 00:15:21.570 is fading, bam, Aladdin. 2019. Playing the genie 00:15:21.570 --> 00:15:24.169 in the live -action Disney film, a lot of people 00:15:24.169 --> 00:15:27.049 were skeptical beforehand. That's huge. Over 00:15:27.049 --> 00:15:29.649 a billion dollars worldwide. It became his highest 00:15:29.649 --> 00:15:31.809 -grossing film ever, finally meeting Independence 00:15:31.809 --> 00:15:34.940 Day. proved he could still absolutely deliver 00:15:34.940 --> 00:15:37.360 that massive global hit when the project was 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.480 right. So this whole time, his career is going 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:42.340 through these ups and downs, these interesting 00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:45.019 choices. But behind the scenes, his personal 00:15:45.019 --> 00:15:47.240 life, specifically his marriage, is becoming 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:50.440 incredibly public and complex. Yeah, the dynamic 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:52.639 with Jada Pinkett Smith really came into the 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:55.159 spotlight. They started talking openly about 00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:57.580 their marriage being unconventional, that bad 00:15:57.580 --> 00:16:00.009 marriage for life joke they made. But it went 00:16:00.009 --> 00:16:02.610 beyond jokes. They both admitted to having relationships 00:16:02.610 --> 00:16:04.850 outside the marriage, believing in that freedom. 00:16:05.129 --> 00:16:07.389 Which is a radical departure from that clean 00:16:07.389 --> 00:16:09.850 -cut family man image he'd cultivated for so 00:16:09.850 --> 00:16:12.370 long. Yeah. Smith even talked about exploring 00:16:12.370 --> 00:16:14.929 polyamory at one point, though he said therapy 00:16:14.929 --> 00:16:16.870 helped him realize it wasn't for him. It felt 00:16:16.870 --> 00:16:18.970 like a deliberate move towards radical honesty. 00:16:19.450 --> 00:16:22.309 It did. But the biggest bombshell, the one that 00:16:22.309 --> 00:16:24.230 puts a lot of subsequent events in a different 00:16:24.230 --> 00:16:28.129 light, came much later. Actually, in 2023, Jada 00:16:28.129 --> 00:16:30.350 revealed they had secretly been separated since 00:16:30.350 --> 00:16:34.110 2016. Since 2016. Wow. So for all those years, 00:16:34.190 --> 00:16:36.210 appearing together, talking about their marriage, 00:16:36.429 --> 00:16:38.909 they were living separate lives. Completely separate 00:16:38.909 --> 00:16:41.549 lives, apparently. Still legally married, committed 00:16:41.549 --> 00:16:43.950 to never divorcing, but not a couple in the traditional 00:16:43.950 --> 00:16:46.950 sense. That adds a whole layer of complexity 00:16:46.950 --> 00:16:48.889 to everything that happened in the public eye 00:16:48.889 --> 00:16:51.220 during that period. it really does and all this 00:16:51.220 --> 00:16:53.279 personal stuff is swirling around as he's also 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:56.440 doing this deep dive into himself with his memoir 00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:59.480 will in 2021 co -written with mark manson yeah 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:03.190 and That book was incredibly revealing. Talked 00:17:03.190 --> 00:17:05.369 about childhood trauma, his difficult relationship 00:17:05.369 --> 00:17:08.349 with his father, even his experiences using ayahuasca 00:17:08.349 --> 00:17:10.829 for spiritual exploration. He basically said 00:17:10.829 --> 00:17:13.250 the happy -go -lucky persona was a defense mechanism 00:17:13.250 --> 00:17:16.130 covering up insecurity and pain. Pretty much. 00:17:16.170 --> 00:17:19.049 It was him trying to deconstruct the very image 00:17:19.049 --> 00:17:21.089 he'd spent decades building. It felt like a real 00:17:21.089 --> 00:17:23.980 push towards authenticity. however messy. And 00:17:23.980 --> 00:17:26.119 then, right as all this vulnerability is coming 00:17:26.119 --> 00:17:28.039 out the book, the marriage details, he hits the 00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:30.319 absolute peak of his acting career. The timing 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:32.279 was incredible. Winning the Oscar, the Golden 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:35.180 Globe, the BAFTA, the SAG Award, sweeping the 00:17:35.180 --> 00:17:37.019 board for playing Richard Williams in King Richard, 00:17:37.140 --> 00:17:39.720 a lifetime achievement kind of a moment, happening 00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:41.960 right when his personal life felt the most exposed 00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:45.160 and complicated. Hashtag TagTedV. The defining 00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:48.440 incident and career repercussions, 2022 present. 00:17:48.619 --> 00:17:50.680 And then came the moment where it all just... 00:17:51.339 --> 00:17:54.400 Collided. The carefully crafted image. The private 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:57.720 turmoil. The public stage. The Oscars, March 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:00.819 27, 2022. Chris Rock is presenting, makes that 00:18:00.819 --> 00:18:03.079 joke about Jada's shaved head, referencing G 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:04.799 .I. Jane. And we have to remember the context. 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:07.160 Jada had been very public about having alopecia 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:09.740 areata since 2018. Which is an autoimmune disorder 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:12.279 causing hair loss. So for her and many people 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:14.299 with alopecia, it's not just a style choice. 00:18:14.380 --> 00:18:16.440 It's a medical condition that can be really sensitive. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:18.819 Exactly. So Rock's joke, whether he knew the 00:18:18.819 --> 00:18:21.859 full context or not, landed badly, very badly. 00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:25.509 And Smith's reaction. Was instant. Gets up, walks 00:18:25.509 --> 00:18:27.890 on stage, slaps Chris Rock across the face, then 00:18:27.890 --> 00:18:30.390 goes back to his seat and yells twice, keep my 00:18:30.390 --> 00:18:34.009 wife's name out your fucking mouth. Yeah. Decades 00:18:34.009 --> 00:18:36.910 of that famous Will Smith cool just evaporated 00:18:36.910 --> 00:18:40.390 in seconds. Raw anger broadcast live around the 00:18:40.390 --> 00:18:42.289 world. It was shocking. What happened right after? 00:18:42.349 --> 00:18:45.569 Inside the theater. Chaos. Pretty much. The Academy 00:18:45.569 --> 00:18:47.890 later said they asked Smith to leave the ceremony, 00:18:48.130 --> 00:18:51.210 but he refused. And then minutes later, they 00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:54.869 announced best actor. And it's him. Talk about 00:18:54.869 --> 00:18:57.490 cognitive dissonance. Right. He gives this tearful 00:18:57.490 --> 00:18:59.650 acceptance speech, apologizing to the Academy, 00:18:59.970 --> 00:19:02.650 apologizing to the other nominees. But notably, 00:19:02.789 --> 00:19:06.029 no apology to Chris Rock at that moment. He stayed 00:19:06.029 --> 00:19:07.849 for the rest of the show. The public reaction 00:19:07.849 --> 00:19:11.079 was. immediate and huge, right? Divided, but 00:19:11.079 --> 00:19:13.940 intense. Oh, yeah. It completely dominated the 00:19:13.940 --> 00:19:16.359 conversation, overshadowing his win, overshadowing 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:18.400 everything else about the night. He put out a 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:20.660 formal apology on Instagram pretty quickly afterwards, 00:19:20.859 --> 00:19:23.799 said he was heartbroken. His actions were unacceptable 00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:26.819 and inexcusable. But the Academy had to respond 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:30.579 institutionally. They did. First, Smith resigned 00:19:30.579 --> 00:19:33.759 from the Academy himself on April 1st, said he 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:36.000 wanted to focus back on the winners, that he'd 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:38.940 betrayed the trust of the Academy. Resigning 00:19:38.940 --> 00:19:41.400 meant he couldn't vote anymore, maybe seen as 00:19:41.400 --> 00:19:43.700 a move to preempt being kicked out. And then 00:19:43.700 --> 00:19:46.559 the Academy made its decision. April 8th. They 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:48.779 banned him from attending any Academy events, 00:19:48.940 --> 00:19:51.539 including the Oscars ceremony itself, for 10 00:19:51.539 --> 00:19:54.160 years. He accepted the decision. And the career 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:57.259 fallout. Did it hit his bankability? Immediately. 00:19:57.460 --> 00:20:00.180 That carefully built family brand took a massive 00:20:00.180 --> 00:20:02.660 hit. Projects started getting paused or shelved. 00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:04.660 Like that Netflix movie, Fast and Loose? Yeah, 00:20:04.700 --> 00:20:07.089 Netflix just pulled the plug completely. It sent 00:20:07.089 --> 00:20:09.970 a clear signal. Studios were suddenly nervous 00:20:09.970 --> 00:20:12.150 about investing huge money in someone whose public 00:20:12.150 --> 00:20:14.769 image had become so volatile. Stability is key 00:20:14.769 --> 00:20:16.950 for those big investments. His next film out 00:20:16.950 --> 00:20:19.690 was Emancipation, the slavery drama for Apple. 00:20:19.789 --> 00:20:22.109 That came out later in 2022. How did that do? 00:20:22.309 --> 00:20:24.789 It was considered a commercial failure. And the 00:20:24.789 --> 00:20:27.190 producer, Todd Black, actually came out and said 00:20:27.190 --> 00:20:29.890 he thought the controversy directly hurt the 00:20:29.890 --> 00:20:33.390 film's performance. People weren't ready or maybe 00:20:33.390 --> 00:20:35.690 weren't willing to separate the art from the 00:20:35.690 --> 00:20:38.309 artist so soon after the incident. Did Smith 00:20:38.309 --> 00:20:40.509 try to adjust it again after the initial apology? 00:20:40.829 --> 00:20:44.190 He did. In July 2022, he released a longer on 00:20:44.190 --> 00:20:47.470 -camera apology video. It seemed much more direct, 00:20:47.630 --> 00:20:50.490 talked about being deeply remorseful. It felt 00:20:50.490 --> 00:20:52.190 like a very conscious step towards trying to 00:20:52.190 --> 00:20:54.569 rebuild bridges and start the public rehabilitation 00:20:54.569 --> 00:20:57.549 process. So where does that leave his career 00:20:57.549 --> 00:20:59.829 now? Is he coming back? It looks like a calculated 00:20:59.829 --> 00:21:02.460 return. He's leaning back into the franchises 00:21:02.460 --> 00:21:06.160 that made him. Things that are maybe less reliant 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:08.099 on his personal brand and more on the established 00:21:08.099 --> 00:21:10.920 IP. Like Bad Boys. Exactly. Bad Boys. Ride or 00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:13.720 Die came out in 2024. Did well. And interestingly, 00:21:13.819 --> 00:21:15.900 they even put a little comedic nod to the slap 00:21:15.900 --> 00:21:18.299 incident in the movie. Sort of a meta way to 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:20.059 acknowledge it and maybe try to move past it. 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:22.019 What else is on the horizon? He's developing 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:25.210 the sequel to I Am Legend. this time with Michael 00:21:25.210 --> 00:21:27.450 B. Jordan, which is exciting. And he's attached 00:21:27.450 --> 00:21:29.769 to a couple of other big sci -fi projects, Brilliance 00:21:29.769 --> 00:21:33.549 and Resistor. The strategy seems clear. Get back 00:21:33.549 --> 00:21:36.130 to those big, globally appealing genre films. 00:21:36.309 --> 00:21:38.470 And the music. He's doing that again too, right? 00:21:38.549 --> 00:21:40.930 Echoing his early career synergy. Yeah, definitely 00:21:40.930 --> 00:21:43.650 mirroring that strategy. He dropped a few singles 00:21:43.650 --> 00:21:46.990 in 2024, You Can Make It, Work of Art. And he's 00:21:46.990 --> 00:21:49.269 announced a new album, his fifth studio album, 00:21:49.410 --> 00:21:52.069 called Based on a True Story, coming in March 00:21:52.069 --> 00:21:55.289 2025. And he's calling it his most personal music. 00:21:55.730 --> 00:21:58.069 Which ties right back into the memoir, The Push 00:21:58.069 --> 00:22:00.990 for Authenticity. Using music, like he did with 00:22:00.990 --> 00:22:03.230 the book, to process and share his experiences. 00:22:03.630 --> 00:22:06.329 It's a fascinating full circle move. Hashtag 00:22:06.329 --> 00:22:09.349 TagDickD5X. Public image and enduring legacy. 00:22:09.750 --> 00:22:11.970 So when we try to sum up his legacy, I mean, 00:22:11.990 --> 00:22:13.589 you have to start with the impact he had as a 00:22:13.589 --> 00:22:15.920 pioneer, right? Absolutely. Complex Magazine 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:18.240 pointed out how influential he was in just opening 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:19.960 doors for other rappers to move into acting. 00:22:20.140 --> 00:22:22.660 He made that crossover look not just possible, 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:25.460 but hugely successful. He legitimized it. And 00:22:25.460 --> 00:22:27.859 the Fresh Prince of Bel -Air itself, its place 00:22:27.859 --> 00:22:31.180 in TV history, is secure. Totally. A landmark 00:22:31.180 --> 00:22:33.000 for black television, changing representation, 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:36.299 challenging stereotypes by putting that character 00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:39.240 in that affluent setting. It had a massive cultural 00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:41.980 ripple effect. And just the sheer scale of his 00:22:41.980 --> 00:22:44.700 financial success, those salaries. Unbelievable. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:48.660 Reportedly $100 million for Men in Black 3. That 00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:50.880 shows the kind of guaranteed box office return 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:53.660 he represented for so long. Forbes called him 00:22:53.660 --> 00:22:56.740 the biggest movie star of the post -9 -11 era. 00:22:57.130 --> 00:22:59.549 He defined Hollywood economics for a generation. 00:22:59.829 --> 00:23:03.049 But now, there's always the asterisk, isn't there? 00:23:03.089 --> 00:23:05.109 The tainted perception after the Oscars. It's 00:23:05.109 --> 00:23:07.609 unavoidable. That incident sparked so much debate. 00:23:08.009 --> 00:23:10.369 Commentators widely agreed it damaged that image 00:23:10.369 --> 00:23:13.230 he'd spent decades crafting the likable, morally 00:23:13.230 --> 00:23:16.390 upright family guy. His whole legacy felt suddenly 00:23:16.390 --> 00:23:19.130 vulnerable. The LA Times said it put his heroic 00:23:19.130 --> 00:23:21.569 status in jeopardy, turned his biggest night 00:23:21.569 --> 00:23:23.920 into something infamous. Yeah. It's the complete 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:25.779 opposite of the controlled narrative he always 00:23:25.779 --> 00:23:28.059 projected. Right back to that note from his grandmother. 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:30.980 It was a public loss of control. Yet, even in 00:23:30.980 --> 00:23:33.059 the immediate aftermath, some groups continued 00:23:33.059 --> 00:23:35.720 to support him. That's true. He'd won a Razzie 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:38.140 Redeemer Award before the incident, interestingly. 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:40.940 But even after the slap, he still won awards 00:23:40.940 --> 00:23:44.700 from the NAACP and the BET Awards in 2022. It 00:23:44.700 --> 00:23:47.220 suggests his standing, while damaged globally, 00:23:47.619 --> 00:23:49.559 remains strong within certain communities and 00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:52.569 institutions. So it's created this... split legacy. 00:23:52.849 --> 00:23:56.369 I think that's fair to say. You've got the undisputed 00:23:56.369 --> 00:23:58.970 global titan measured in billions of dollars 00:23:58.970 --> 00:24:02.130 and decades of hits. And now alongside that, 00:24:02.170 --> 00:24:04.130 you have the weight of that one uncontrolled 00:24:04.130 --> 00:24:06.849 moment. It's a duality that people will be discussing 00:24:06.849 --> 00:24:09.670 for a long, long time. But his roots, they still 00:24:09.670 --> 00:24:12.190 seem strong. That recent street naming in Philly. 00:24:12.329 --> 00:24:14.910 Yeah, that's a great final point. March 2025, 00:24:15.289 --> 00:24:17.250 a block of 59th Street in West Philly where he 00:24:17.250 --> 00:24:19.829 grew up was renamed Will Smith Way. He was there 00:24:19.829 --> 00:24:21.869 for the ceremony. From the kid writing rhymes 00:24:21.869 --> 00:24:24.170 in a notebook on that street to having the street 00:24:24.170 --> 00:24:26.630 named after him. It shows that whatever the global 00:24:26.630 --> 00:24:29.150 debate, the local hero status, that connection 00:24:29.150 --> 00:24:31.950 to where he came from, that seems unshaken. So 00:24:31.950 --> 00:24:34.799 to wrap this all up for you, the listener. We've 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:37.400 really traced this incredible, almost unbelievable 00:24:37.400 --> 00:24:40.839 arc. Started as a clean -cut rapper facing financial 00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:44.539 ruin, gets saved by TV, then meticulously engineers 00:24:44.539 --> 00:24:46.859 himself into the biggest movie star in the world. 00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:49.440 Balances that with critical acclaim, reaches 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:52.359 the absolute pinnacle with the Oscar, only to 00:24:52.359 --> 00:24:54.920 have it all thrown into chaos by one impulsive 00:24:54.920 --> 00:24:57.759 act, a moment that shattered decades of careful 00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:00.140 image control. What's so fascinating is that 00:25:00.140 --> 00:25:02.660 contradiction. His early success was built on 00:25:02.660 --> 00:25:05.500 being safe, predictable, controlled. But his 00:25:05.500 --> 00:25:07.779 later work, the memoir, The Personal Revelations, 00:25:07.779 --> 00:25:10.319 seemed to be pushing towards something messier, 00:25:10.380 --> 00:25:12.859 more authentic, more vulnerable. Right. And now 00:25:12.859 --> 00:25:14.960 his legacy seems caught between those two things. 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:17.700 Is he the perfectly engineered celebrity machine? 00:25:18.019 --> 00:25:20.920 Or is he the deeply flawed, complex human being 00:25:20.920 --> 00:25:22.950 we've glimpsed more recently? Which leads us 00:25:22.950 --> 00:25:24.869 to our final question for you to think about. 00:25:25.230 --> 00:25:27.890 We know about the deep personal work documented 00:25:27.890 --> 00:25:30.769 in his memoir facing childhood trauma, the complicated 00:25:30.769 --> 00:25:33.609 family stuff, the ayahuasca journeys. We know 00:25:33.609 --> 00:25:36.069 he says his upcoming album is his most personal 00:25:36.069 --> 00:25:39.410 music yet. So the question is, does all this 00:25:39.410 --> 00:25:41.809 give us a more authentic view of Will Smith, 00:25:41.910 --> 00:25:44.769 even if it's an imperfect one? Should we embrace 00:25:44.769 --> 00:25:47.710 this more complex picture? Or is his public image 00:25:47.710 --> 00:25:50.269 now permanently defined by that single moment 00:25:50.269 --> 00:25:53.069 at the Oscars? Did that lapse in control, that 00:25:53.069 --> 00:25:55.089 choice to publicly defend a private boundary 00:25:55.089 --> 00:25:58.450 so fiercely, actually reveal that the old, carefully 00:25:58.450 --> 00:26:00.869 constructed Will Smith was still very much there, 00:26:00.970 --> 00:26:03.109 right beneath the surface of all this self -help 00:26:03.109 --> 00:26:04.910 and vulnerability? Something for you to mull 00:26:04.910 --> 00:26:05.089 over.