After the 2022 Oscars, Will Smith’s reputation in the industry has taken a toll after his incident with Chris Rock. Recently, the comedian Eddie Murphy also didn’t shy away to take a dig at the celebrity, as he jokes about the situation at the Golden Globes.
Following the situation, Smith’s good friend Nia Long, who played the role of Smith’s girlfriend and fiancé on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, doesn’t seem to mind Eddie Murphy’s joke about Smith. The actress later went on to praise Murphy for their film You People.
Nia Long praises Eddie Murphy despite his jokes about Will Smith
In an interview with The Daily Show host Wanda Sykes, the former The Fresh Prince of Bel-air star Nia Long shared her excitement for her current projects You People and Missing. While talking about Netflix’s You People, she shared her experience of starring alongside Eddie Murphy.
Although the actress is a great friend to her former co-star Will Smith, Nia Long doesn’t seem to mind Eddie Murphy’s recent joke about Smith’s slap-gate incident at the Golden Globes. The actress shared her respect for Eddie Murphy and had a great time working with him and jokingly said that she was glad to be finally old enough to play Eddie Murphy’s wife onscreen. She stated,
“He was wonderful, And I was so excited to finally be old enough to play his wife because, for years, it was like, ‘Oh, no, you’re too young.’ Do you know? And now, the men always get the younger women, so here we are.”
Even though the actress never directly responded to Will Smith’s controversy, Nia Long has shared her support and love for the actor and called him a great person.
Nia Long shares her love for Will Smith
Even though many months have passed since Will Smith’s slap-gate incident, Nia Long never directly delved into the matter. But during an interview with Kevin Polowy, the actress opened up about her fellow friend. Nia Long said that she will always keep on loving Smith and is very proud of his accomplishments in the industry while carrying a lot of burdens to keep himself perfect over the years. In the interview, she said,
“I will always love him and he’s had an incredible career, and he’s carried a burden for many years to try to represent what perfection looks like, Or what achievement looks like. And I don’t think that, at least when we were going up, there was room to be human. I think he’s now able to be human.”
Although she never directly referenced the slapping incident at the Oscars, where Will Smith lost his coolness and slapped Chris Rock for joking about his wife’s hairstyle. But she subtly hinted at the incident by saying, “We all have our moments in life where we need to reconcile things that we suppress,”. She explained that it is hard growing in the industry, and it has been hard on Will Smith from being a central figure in Hollywood for so many years.
The past year has been a forgettable one for Will Smith, as he has been on a downward spiral since. But many have come to empathize with Will Smith over time and the problems he went through. And after the actor’s multiple apologies, things seem to be going in the right direction.
You People is available to stream on Netflix.
Source: The Daily Show
