Will Smith’s “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” is getting a worldwide promotional tour.
So far Will and Martin Lawrence have been in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, Mexico, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Miami.
The film opens June 7th but so far Sony has kept Smith away from any real press in the US, especially Los Angeles and New York. I’m told some outlets in Los Angeles pulled out of a junket because they were told not to ask about “the slap.”
That’s right. Will Smith’s famous live slap or punch of Chris Rock on the stage of the Oscars is being avoided at all costs. Smith was punished with a 10 year ejection by the Academy. He immediately lost work. Smith has been mostly persona non grata in Hollywood for the two years since the slap.
So, of course, now he’s back, starring in a big studio film. Has Hollywood forgiven and forgotten? Can you really attack someone on live TV in front of a worldwide audience and get away with it?
Maybe you can.
So far no entertainment reporter has been brave enough to ask a single question about the Slap. Will Will Smith get away with it? And what about Martin Lawrence? I’m hearing odd things about his appearance from those who’ve talked to him. He didn’t look well at the Emmy Awards back in January. Everyone is rooting for him, whatever is wrong.
We’ll see how the Slap figures into all this on June 6th, when “Bad Boys” plays previews.
