While Will Smith has seen a lot of ups and downs in his career, the 2022 Oscars controversy is the most recent one. Slapping Chris Rock in front of a huge audience at the 2022 Academy Awards, Will Smith found himself in a difficult situation. The backlash for his violent actions seems to have stuck with the actor as even after almost a year, fans of the entertainment industry haven’t let him leave it in the past.
Now, more so than ever, Will Smith needs an out. Since we are just at the beginning of 2023, there’s a lot of time for everyone to turn things around for them and the actor can certainly do the same. For that, he might desperately need a win and his favorite football team – Philadelphia Eagles – might help him out here.
Is Will Smith Going to Attend the Super Bowl?
There are a lot of big events scheduled for 2023, including the 95th Academy Awards which will be held on March 13. Unfortunately for Will Smith, he has been banned from the prestigious award ceremony after his uncalled-for fiasco last year. For a short recap, Smith stomped onto the stage where comedian Chris Rock was performing. As Rock had made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, the actor took the liberty of slapping Rock in front of the entire world. Since then, the act has stuck with him and he has been having a difficult time trying to leave it behind him.
Smith, obviously, won’t be attending the 2023 Oscars as he faces a ban of ten years. Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson released a statement where they announced, “The Board has decided, for a period of ten years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually.” Therefore, Super Bowl LVII couldn’t have come at a better time.
Super Bowl LVII will see Kansas City Chiefs, the American Football Conference champions face off against Philadelphia Eagles, the National Football Conference champions. The match is scheduled to take place on February 12, Sunday in Glendale, Arizona. Anyone who is a fan of Smith and follows him on social media knows that the actor wholeheartedly supports the Philadelphia Eagles. So, it’s not completely out of the question that Smith could be present at the showdown.
However, musician Questlove stated during the 2023 Grammys that Smith is occupied with the shooting of Bad Boys 4, because of which he wasn’t even able to join the hip-hop tribute performance at the award function. So, maybe Smith’s busy schedule will keep him from attending the match at the State Farm Stadium.
Will Smith Almost Dropped a Role for Philadelphia Eagles
Smith starred in the 2015 movie, Concussion, directed by Peter Landesman. However, the Aladdin actor later revealed that he was “deeply conflicted” about playing the part. Why was that? Well, Smith plays the character of Doctor Bennet Omalu who was on a quest to convince people about the medical dangers of football. Smith being a fan of the sport, had his doubts about the movie as he grew up with Philadelphia Eagles. During an interview with Charlie Rose, Smith stated,
I’m a football dad. My son played football for four years. I grew up in Philadelphia with my Philadelphia Eagles. And I was deeply conflicted about being the person to bring this film to life [but] I became deeply impelled as a parent, because I didn’t know this information. I didn’t know and if I didn’t know, tons of other parents didn’t know. So I felt that as a parent, I had to do it.”
So basically, if it wasn’t for the compulsion he felt as a father, Smith probably wouldn’t have done the movie because of his love for Philadelphia Eagles. We hope that Smith gets his win of 2023 in the look of his favorite team’s victory.
Source: Marca
