Will Smith has reportedly landed his first film role since the infamous Oscars slap.
Chris Rock had been presenting the award for Best Documentary at the Oscars back in March when he made a joke about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith – who suffers from alopecia.
Referring to Jada’s buzzcut, the comedian said, “Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” prompting the actress to roll her eyes.
After Chris made the joke, Will stormed onto the stage, slapped Chris across the face and warned him: “Keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth!”
The situation caused uproar at the time, and he was subsequently banned from attending the Oscars and all Academy events for 10 years after the incident.
Ten months later, the 54-year-old has reportedly landed his first film role since the infamous event.
The Hollywood star is said to have been lined up for the sequel to 2019’s live action version of Aladdin, in which he played Genie.
A movie insider told The UK Sun: “This would be one of the first movies Will has shot since the Oscars slap and it is quite surprising, given that it will be for a kids’ film.”
“He has done a lot of work on himself and the consensus is that it will all be very much in the past by the time the movie is released.”
“The first film was a huge success so it would be silly not to make another, and it would be a real shame to have to re-cast Will over what happened.”
“So Disney is keen to stand by him and bring him back into the fold.”
Will previously expressed his “deepest hope” that the infamous incident doesn’t have an effect on his new film Emancipation in the upcoming awards season.
When previously asked what he would say to those who thought it was “too soon” for him to be making a comeback, the Hollywood actor told Fox 5: “You know, I completely understand that if you know someone is not ready.”
“I would absolutely respect that and allow them their space to not be ready. My deepest concern is my team.”
“The people on this team have done some of the best work their entire careers, and my deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalise my team.”
Will continued that he hoped “the material power of the film” as well as “the timeliness of the story” would “open people’s hearts”.
The upcoming film Emancipation is based on the true story of the enslaved man “whipped Peter” who escaped from a Louisiana plantation in the 1860s after he was nearly whipped to death.
