Will Smith is making a comeback on the big screen with Emancipation after his controversial appearance at the Oscars 2022 where he slapped comedian Chris Rock for making fun of his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and her alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss.. The incident infamously named ‘slapgate’ resulted in Smith getting banned by the Academy even though he won the Best Actor award later that night for King Richard.
Now, after the fallout which stained his popularity, the actor is making a comeback with his film Emancipation that is all set to release in theatres. The film was previously slated to release in May but was later postponed after the Oscar controversy. While speaking to a channel, Smith said, “I completely understand — if someone is not ready, I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready.”
He further lamented that the repercussions of his actions should not affect the work of the entire crew of Emancipation and said, “My deepest concern is my team – Antoine has done what I think is the greatest work of his entire career. The people on this team have done some of the best work of their entire careers, and my deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalize my team. At this point, that’s what I’m working for.”
Emancipation is a film based on a slave named Gordon, known in popular culture as Whipped Peter. The titular character was the subject of controversial photographs that documented the trauma, turmoil and inhumane treatment meted out to the slaves in America before the Civil War. Gordon’s widely circulated photograph of his whipped back or ‘scourged back’ became one of the most widely circulated pictures of the abolitionist movement during the American Civil War and remains one of the most infamous photos of that era. Smith’s Emancipation will release in select cinemas on December 2, 2022, before its streaming release on December 9, 2022, by Apple TV+.
(Source: FOX5)
