Will Smith made his return to the awards stage earlier this week after accepting the Beacon Award at the African American Film Critics Association Awards (AAFCA).
The event took place on Wednesday (March 1) and marked the first time Smith has given a speech on an awards stage since his infamous slapping incident with Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony.
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The legendary actor took the stage after his Emancipation co-star Charmaine Bingwa and AAFCA cofounder Gil L. Robertson introduced him and the film’s director Antoine Fuqua.
After Fuqua gave his minute-long speech, Smith reflected on the production of the historical drama.
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“Emancipation was the individual most difficult film of my entire career. It was all outdoors, that is true,” Smith joked with the crowd. “It was the second day of shooting and 110 degrees … I was in a scene with one of the white actors. The actor decided to ad lib. So we’re doing the scene. I did my line. He did his line. And then — ad lib — he spit in the middle of my chest.”
He added: “The actor felt that the ad lib had gone well. So we do take two. I do my line. He does his line — and spits in the middle of my chest again … In the distance, I hear a voice. And Antoine says, ‘Hey, let’s do a take without the spit.’ And in that moment, I knew that God was real.”
Will Smith went on to thank several people, including the AAFCA co-founder, the production team and most importantly, Apple, for sticking through all the budget changes on such a massive film.
“I want to thank Gil and AAFCA,” Will said. “I want to thank all of you in this room for doing what you do, keeping our stories alive. I want to thank Apple, because the budget was one thing. And then the budget was another thing. And then the budget was another thing. And Apple never flinched,” Smith said. “It was the first time I had heard from a studio that the story was more important than how much it costs to get it done … They make iPhones. They can do it.”
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Before his speech, Charmaine Bingwa spoke with Variety on the red carpet about her co-star’s kindness and how he looked out for them when filming many of the difficult scenes.
“There was a scene where the people had to lay dead in a tunnel … And Will just said, ‘You guys are doing a fantastic job. I know this is really tough.’ And he gave them all an extra $1,000 out of his own pocket. He’s just a great guy,” Bingwa said.
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Will Smith’s last time on an awards stage wasn’t a great experience for him. Besides accepting the award for Best Actor at the 2022 Oscars thanks to his role in the 2021 film King Richard, Smith had also assaulted Chris Rock on stage earlier that night.
The incident occurred while Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her alopecia. Smith walked on stage and slapped the comedian across his face before going back to his seat and telling Rock to keep Jada’s name out his “muthafuckin’ mouth.”
The backlash from the slap saw Will Smith dragged all over from television to social media. He issued a statement last March calling his actions “unacceptable” while apologizing to Chris Rock.
In July, the former Fresh Prince star returned with an earnest apology video in which he denounced his actions and took full accountability while admitting there was work that needed to be done to fix the mess he made.
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Since then, Will Smith has been slowly returning to the spotlight and picking up steam with upcoming film releases. In addition to Emancipation, which arrived in 2022, he announced Bad Boys 4 alongside co-star Martin Lawrence via a hilarious Instagram post.
Smith is also set to share the screen with Michael B. Jordan in the sequel to the former’s 2007 post-apocalyptic thriller I Am Legend.
