Will Smith was arrested in 1989 over an alleged vicious assault that took place in Philadelphia. As per reports, Smith, who was 20 at the time, was arguing with a man, which ended in the latter almost losing sight in an eye. 

Smith faced charges of aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. These were later dismissed. 

The National Enquirer reported the assault on record promoter William Hendricks took place days before Smith received his first rap Grammy with DJ Jazzy Jeff. As per their reports, the police file alleges Smith asked his bodyguard to attack Hendricks. The promoter was left needing six stitches after fracturing his left eye orbit in the assault. 

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At the time, sources told The National Enquirer, “Will had to spend a night in the cell at the West Philadelphia police station with other inmates waking him up all night long and asking for his autograph”. 

The Will Smith strike at Oscars 2022

Cut to 2022, Will Smith lost his cool at the Oscars, going up on stage to hit comedian Chris Rock who made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. While presenting the award for Best Documentary, Rock made fun of Jada’s hair, prompting Smith to hit back. Notably, Jada struggles with alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss. 

However, when he won Best Actor for ‘King Richard‘, Smith went up on stage to apologize. In his acceptance speech, he also said “I know to do what we do you’ve got to be able to take abuse and have people talk crazy about you and have people disrespecting you, and you’ve got to smile and pretend it’s OK. But love will make you do crazy things.” 

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A possible reason for Smith’s reaction may be his personal life story and his inaction as a child when his mother was abused by his father, as recounted in the actor’s autobiography. Smith wrote, “When I was nine years old, I watched my father punch my mother in the side of the head so hard that she collapsed”, adding, “I saw her spit blood. That moment in that bedroom, probably more than any other moment in my life, has defined who I am.” 

He continued, “Within everything that I have done since then — the awards and accolades, the spotlights and attention, the characters and the laughs — there has been a subtle string of apologies to my mother for my inaction that day. For failing her in the moment. For failing to stand up to my father. For being a coward”. 

Pushing the Smith family buttons 

While Will Smith’s reaction may have been a little extreme against a comedian making a joke, though, in bad taste, Chris Rock has also pushed the couple’s buttons in the past. 

Smith and his wife are in an open marriage, which means they have other partners which both know about. Rock appeared to make fun of this a couple of years back commenting on a post where Smith wished his ex-wife and mother of his first child on her birthday. The comedian wrote, “Wow. You have a very understanding wife.” 

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Rock also made fun of Jada Pinkett Smith at the 2016 Oscars too, when she boycotted the event after Will Smith failed to land a nomination for his movie, ‘Succession’. 

The comedian said at the time “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited”. 

Reel to real

Ironically, Smith is widely popular for his role in ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’, where he plays a schoolgoing boy who gets into fights and is sent to stay with his aunt.