The aftermath of the Slap for Will Smith continues to be a rocky road. Smith made several apologies for his actions: one onstage when he accepted his Oscar win, one afterward to Chris Rock, and one when he resigned from the Academy. However, despite his apologies, action continues to be taken from organizations that work closely with Smith. After resigning his membership from the Academy, SAG-AFTRA announced that they have been in contact with the Academy and ABC to “appropriately†address the situation within their own membership. The conflicting responses from the Academy of Smith’s actions and what happened in response that night also brought to light issues within the Oscars organization and how they might react in future events. Rock, whom Smith slapped after he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, addressed the slap briefly before a comedy show but said he’d “eventually†address the night, and Smith, with time. While the future of Smith’s career immediately following this weekend remains uncertain, below are some insights into his projects currently in development.
National Geographic is pausing Pole to Pole, a nature show featuring Smith touring the North and South Poles. The series was slated to begin filming in three weeks, but a source told Bloomberg that production will now be delayed until the fall. Bloomberg reporter Lucas Shaw tweeted, “Netflix has also abandoned plans to make a sequel to Bright, but that is unrelated to the incident.†Vulture has reached out to Netflix for comment.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that Bad Boys 4 is allegedly on hold following the events of Sunday’s ceremony, despite Smith receiving 40 pages of the script prior to the Slap. Smith’s Apple TV+ drama Emancipation is currently in post-production, set to premiere sometime in 2022. However, Apple has not announced a formal release date. Smith was also set to star alongside Kevin Hart in the remake of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, however, Hart’s last update on development was in June 2021.
While some projects are rumored to be affected by Smith’s actions, others have coincidentally fallen short around the same time. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Netflix has allegedly “slowed down†the development of Smith’s Fast and Loose. Multiple factors may have contributed to the decision; the attached director, David Leitch, reportedly backed out of the project a week before the Oscars to work on Ryan Gosling’s Fall Guy. Without a director attached and in the wake of the Slap, THR shared that Netflix reportedly put the project on hold. Actress and dancer Jojo Siwa recently shared that her upcoming film with Smith, Bounce, has been “on hold†for months, completely unrelated to the Slap.
This post has been updated throughout.