People won’t watch “Emancipation” after the Oscars slap

Will Smith has admitted his fans may not be “ready” to see him on screen in upcoming drama Emancipation.

The film is the 54-year-old’s first project following his controversial slap in the face by Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars earlier this year.

The King Richard award winner made the blunt revelation while in one interview With FOX 5’s “Good Day DC,” journalist Kevin McCarthy recently asked journalist Kevin McCarthy what he would say “to the people who say I’m not ready” to see him again.

“I totally understand that if someone isn’t ready, I would absolutely respect that and give them their space for not being ready,” Smith said said McCarthy. “My biggest concern is for my team – [director Antoine Fuqua] did what I consider to be the greatest achievement of his entire career.

“My deepest hope is that my actions will not put my team at a disadvantage,” said the father of three.

The drama stars Smith as a runaway slave named Peter who found asylum in Louisiana and eventually joined the Union Army.

Smith continued, “I hope that the material — the power of the film, the timeliness of the story — I hope that the good that can be done will at least open people’s hearts to see the incredible, to recognize and to support artists in and around this film.”

“I hope that the good that can be done will at least open people’s hearts to see, recognize and support the incredible artists in and around this film,” said Smith.

Fuqua, 56, addressed the slap in the face ahead of the film’s release in a Vanity Fair profile published Nov. 15, saying, “My conversation has always been, ‘Isn’t 400 years of slavery, brutality, more important than a bad moment?’ ”

The Equalizer director continued, “We were in Hollywood and some really ugly things happened and we saw a lot of people getting awards for doing some really nasty things.”

“So no excuses for anyone or anything but I can say he’s a good man and I hope people can forgive him and that we can move forward,” concluded the Training Day filmmaker. “I hope Chris [Rock] and will find a way to sit together, public, private, or whatever, and make amends.”

The ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ star caused quite a stir in Hollywood when he slapped presenter Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.

Smith has since been banned from participating in the show for the next decade. Meanwhile, early audience reactions to “Emancipation” were strong following a special screening hosted by the NAACP during the 51st Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation on Oct. 1.

“Throughout my career, I’ve turned down a lot of films that were set in slavery,” Smith told the crowd and the film, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “I never wanted to show it to us like that. And then this picture came up. And this is not a film about slavery. This is a film about freedom. This is a film about resilience. This is a film about faith.”