Why Will Smith won’t promote his new film Bad Boys: Ride or Die

The star has not given an interview since 2022 when he apologised for the Chris Rock slap. Photo / AP

Will Smith has declined to promote his latest film Bad Boys: Ride or Die to avoid being questioned about his infamous slapping of Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars ceremony and the state of his marriage to Jada Pinkett Smith.

The Men In Black actor, 55, hasn’t sat down for an interview since November 2022, when he issued an apology to Rock, the Academy and his fans while talking to Trevor Noah.

Will Smith, right, hits presenter Chris Rock on stage while presenting the award for best documentary feature. Photo / AP

In the interview, Smith discussed the incident in which he stormed the stage at the awards ceremony and slapped the comedian after he made a joke about Pinkett-Smith’s alopecia.

To make things worse, Pinkett-Smith released her memoir Worthy in October last year, in which she admitted she and Smith had “been separated in every way except legally” since 2016.

Now, the King Richard actor has made the decision to steer clear of any uncomfortable questions by only publicising his latest flick on social media.

A close source told the Daily Mail Smith doesn’t want to rehash questions over relations with his wife and Chris Rock and instead hopes to get back to how things were before the Oscars slap incident.

The insider said: “Will doesn’t want to do any promo other than social media because he doesn’t want to get into the slap or his marriage again.”

“He’s refusing to do any of the normal stuff he would do like interviews. He’s not ashamed about what happened to his marriage, but he just doesn’t want to get into the dark stuff again.”

Sony Entertainment and Smith have been approached for comment by the Daily Mail.

Smith has been actively promoting the fourth film in the Bad Boys franchise on various social media accounts, with the actor sharing a snapshot of him and co-star Martin Lawrence on Instagram.

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He captioned the post: “Happy Bday to my Ride or Die @martinlawrence! Me and Marty Mar are ‘bout to get on a plane and run up on y’all for @badboys, BE READY!!”

He shared a carousel of photos of him and Lawrence on set two weeks ago and posted again on April 11 to mark the release of the film’s poster campaign.

Despite Smith’s refusal to participate in the film’s publicity campaign, he hasn’t disappeared completely from the public eye.

The star made a surprise appearance at Coachella’s opening weekend, rapping his smash-hit Men In Black on stage with Colombian singer J Balvin while dressed as his iconic character from the 1997 flick, Agent J.