It’s Official: Audiences Have Forgiven Will ‘The Slap’ Smith

The “King Richard” star slapped Oscar presenter Chris Rock in front of a global audience two years ago. The actor took issue with Rock’s reference to his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head. The incident, swiftly dubbed “The Slap,” stained Smith’s career in ways no one could have predicted.

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Would audiences embrace the affable Smith again? Could he return to the action comedies that once rocked the box office?

We got our answer over the weekend.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” Smith’s first populist film since “The Slap,” scored big at the U.S. box office. The movie’s $56 million haul not only gave Hollywood a sigh of relief given recent blockbuster fails it showed Americans are willing to forgive (if not forget) Smith’s transgressions.

Ed Morrissey

Worth noting: Furiosa only got $32 million, and that was over a 4-day holiday weekend. Furiosa barely showed up this weekend, only scoring $4 million in its third weekend. In fact, its total BO is $58 million, just barely outpacing the opening weekend for Bad Boys. If did nearly twice as much in sales in its fourth week of release.

What does this mean? The Great Awokening is not working out well for Hollywood. Christian and I will talk more about it tomorrow in our Off the Beaten Path VIP show. 

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