He's still Will Smith, he still has many years ahead of him. He could ditch her, lose 90% of his fortune, go on an "apology tour", and be back in big movies the next day to rebuild his empire. He's not an over the hill banker, he was one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood and many actors have come back from much worse.
Yeah I love a good come back sorry as much as the next guy.
But I mean. I haven’t seen him in anything that good post Chris rock. He has definitely lost his A list status, like a lot of people do after a controversy.
I hope he lands on his feet but with hollyweird doing weird shit he may just stick to smaller independent projects for now. Directing/producing and not in front of the camera.
While it's obviously because of the Chris Rock slap, I genuinely think that would all go away if he ditched Jada. I think his post and the replies show that. People were clowning on him for "the interview" but he was still Will Smith, like it wasn't nearly as big of a deal as it is now. I think the way Jada treats Will became a much bigger issue after the slap because it really showed the world how much of a bitch he is.
If he tossed her and started working on his reputation, I think people would see him as a much "stronger" dude again. Now he just looks like a pussy and that's what's holding him back from becoming a big star again.
I mean the dude was one of the most entertaining actors on the planet. I feel he pretty much played himself, a charismatic "winner" in most of his movies and all of his "block busters". But he was great at playing that role.
I think he could easily take back that crown, but he'd need to dump Jada, and go on the interview circuit. Apologizing for his behavior, specifically regarding the slap. Even go as far as playing the "being in love will blind you" angle. Imagine a sit down interview with him and Chris Rock? It would break records, everybody would watch that. Watching him own his actions, shit all he'd have to do is apologize, get a hug with Rock and flash that smile and Handcock 2, I am Legend 2, and Men in Black 4 would all be hits.
It's more consequences of his own actions than anything else. If he (or you) interpret that as a punishment, then it's a punishment solely based on his own actions, inflicted to himself by himself.
What did he not do? In this hypothetical he handed most of the power in his life to his wife. It's not like he can't afford the worlds best lawyers to help him draft shit up and tell him the consequences of these things, I guess. Oh wait, he's rich. He can.
That's the root cause of a lot of the downstream stuff, and that's assuming there were literally no indicators of how this would go before they were married. If he had divorced her years ago he wouldn't be in this catch-22 type problem currently.
Also, as I said, he has access to lawyers. Pre-nups are a common thing. He either chose not to get one, or she pushed back on having one at all (which would be a red flag as mentioned above).
I feel for him, shit sucks. But, as I said, consequences.
A prenup isn't about screwing anyone, it's there to protect both parties. Terms in prenups can and often are negotiated. They can be changed later if needed and both parties agree.
I'd argue that everyone should have a prenup, especially if there are a lot of assets and money in the conversation on either (or both) sides. If the marriage never ends in divorce, it's just a piece of paper.
Also, I disagree fundamentally. Simply based off of stats, 1/3 of people ever married (in the US) end up experiencing divorce. When I buy a house, if I go into it knowing that there's a 1/3 chance that it burns down, I'd buy insurance, would you not? Do you think those 1/3 of people expected to end up in the 1/3 that are divorced? I'd say very few of them did.
I feel like that opinion might change if you were worth like 100 million dollars but maybe I'm wrong, wouldn't know, never been rich enough to think about a prenup
He could do shitty movies shows and commercials that still pay enough to pay his bills, like every other actor who gets fucked out of a career (self-inflicted or otherwise).
It's been my money and let me tell you there's a reason the joke goes:
"Why is divorce so fucking expensive?"
"Because it's worth every cent."
Best money I ever paid to get that toxic misery out of my life. Left me with not all that much, but I rebuilt and have a life that 15 years ago me would have thought impossible.
Even if I hadn't just to not wake up a miserable mess walking on eggshells every day of the last 11 years would have made it still all worth it.
It's so hard to explain just how miserable she was making me. I've seen the reverse with some friends and friends of my now wife. They'd been 200% better off without their lay about spouses, but instead they limp along seething and upset because the fear of the unknown currently seems greater than the misery of the present.
They separated in 16 but were still attending the Oscars together with her as his date in 22 when he hit Chris rock?
Nah there's some fuckery going on here. You don't take your separated spouse to a prestige event like that if you're actively trying to build a life outside of them.
Ultimately I've spent more time today talking about this than it's worth, but I don't buy that presented story for a second. How they act doesn't imply separation like a non divorce divorce it's something else. Power plays, mind games, etc. But it's not a dead or purely financial relationship.
They run production companies together. Westbrook and Overbrook Entertainment. It's an industry event where Westbrook had 6 people nominated for Oscars, including Smith.
The real issue is we don't know their fiances and what part these companies play in holding and distributing their wealth.
If they were separated and he/she didn't care but the don't want to untangle their finances? Then you don't sit next to each other, you don't slap the shit outta someone on live broadcast TV.
No just no.
Also nothing personal, but I've invested way way more time than these two deserve today so I'm done responding to comments. This whole situation is a shit show and I'm not going to engage with them any or it any more.
It's a business arrangement as much as a personal one. Not sure why that's hard to understand. If you don't want to respond, don't respond. Freewill and all that.
The threat of taking at least half their fortune will make people act rather illogically. We don't know how much his personal fiances are tied up with the production company, what the contracts look like, etc. The royalties may be going to the company, which in turn pays him. She's part owner, last I looked.
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u/tanstaafl90 5h ago
Unfortunately for him, she's also signed a bunch of the paperwork for his various businesses. He stands to lose much more than just his reputation.