How Will Smith Ruined His Reputation Beyond Repair

In his heyday of the 1990s and 2000s, Will Smith's name felt nearly inescapable in film and television. Headlining in powerhouse vehicles like "Bad Boys" and "Men in Black," the breakout star from "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" seemed doggedly determined to be front and center for as long as possible. However, considering how much there is to know about Smith, his fall from grace over the years has been both unsettling and seemingly inescapable.

After the 2022 Oscars slap heard round the world, Smith has struggled to rebuild the once cookie-cutter image of perfection he had curated over the years. Considering his rap career with DJ Jazzy Jeff essentially set out to prove that he could make it in the mainstream without upsetting the sensibilities of his fans in the suburbs, it's been hard to recover his golden boy status. But even before the outburst at the Oscars, Smith had shown signs of a possible duplicitous nature that might be contributing to his inability to repair his reputation. From feuding with a fellow costar to getting caught up in a nasty lawsuit, there have been several times Smith has made it hard to root for him.

There's a reason you might not be able to recognize some of the original cast from "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," and that might be due to the fact that the actress who played Aunt Viv was swapped out in Season 4. Janet Hubert was replaced by Daphne Maxwell Reid with no explanation to the audience; however, gossip suggested that Will Smith and Hubert were feuding behind the scenes.

According to Smith himself, it seems that Hubert was rankled by some young upstart stealing the show. In a 1993 interview, the "Made in America" actor divulged that Hubert "said once, 'I've been in the business for 10 years and this snotty-nosed punk comes along and gets a show,'" per The Sun. Though Smith was essentially calling Hubert the reason for her own departure, she shot back.

In 2010, Hubert suggested that Smith would often tell jokes before the taping of "Fresh Prince" that left her feeling uncomfortable (via Newsweek). Then, in 2013, she accused Smith of essentially creating a smear campaign against her to get ahead of the narrative surrounding her abrupt departure. However, by 2020, it seems that both Smith and Hubert were ready to put the bad blood behind them when she joined him for an emotional "Red Table Talk." Though the two were able to work through their hurt, Smith's good favor and squeaky clean reputation were only inches away from disaster.

On March 27, 2022, Will Smith was supposed to be riding high. He was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Richard Williams in the film "King Richard" and would ultimately win his first Oscar for it. However, mere minutes before he was to be given the honor, Smith had run afoul of audiences by attacking Chris Rock on stage.

Rock, with whom Will has a tense relationship, had been making jokes at the expense of Will's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, earlier in the evening. This seemed to inspire Will to waltz onstage and take matters into his own hands, much to the shock of everyone in attendance and beyond. To do something so violent and then receive an award on the same evening left many with a feeling of whiplash, leading some to think Will's acceptance speech was the final nail in his reputation's coffin.

In the wake of the incident, Will was forced to make some career choices, resigning his membership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He also received a 10-year ban from any event associated with the organization. While this alone was enough to rattle his image, how his wife Jada responded to it seemed to muddy the message even further.

Peering inside Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's relationship has often come with confusion and controversy. From rumors of infidelity and an open marriage to a final admission that the couple had been separated since 2016, fans have struggled to make heads or tails of the Smiths. However, after Will's unfortunate outburst at the 2022 Oscars, Jada offered up some juicy details. In a December 2023 interview with the Daily Mail, Jada admitted that "so many positive things came after" Will's assault on Chris Rock. She continued, "After all those years trying to figure out if I would leave Will's side, it took that slap for me to see I will never leave him," which is certainly one way to handle toxic masculine behavior.

Though Jada opined, "Who knows where our relationship would be if [the slap] hadn't happened," it still came at a turbulent time for Will's image. While promoting her 2023 memoir "Worthy," Jada divulged on NBC that she and Will had been separated for seven years but refused to get divorced. It seems that Will's perceived bravado in her honor was enough to turn the tide of their relationship, even if it didn't sit well with others.

Redditors at the time felt a sense of discomfort, with one user writing, "Well that sounds like a very healthy relationship," before pointing out that a show of physical violence is not the move Will and Jada seem to think it is. Another suggested that the couple was "trying to cash in on this" moment. Another simply admitted to finding it all "kinda gross."

In the wake of all the 2022 Oscars drama, there were many questions about the future of Will Smith's career. Since he had eschewed much of his movie star status, it seemed like a natural pivot to return to what made him — his rap career. Though he had taken substantial time off from music, with his last album released in 2005, in 2025, Smith put out "Based On A True Story," nearly exactly to the day of the anniversary of his infamous Oscars behavior. However, when promoting his world tour on YouTube, many were quick to point out that the footage felt doctored.

In what was a near consensus among commenters, online netizens seemingly decided that Smith had used artificial intelligence to enhance his crowd size. Many comments on the video were some iteration of, "LOL fake AI crowd." One clever person wrote, "He's the Fresh Prince of BellAi." And another deemed Smith's comeback a failure by suggesting, "It's over, bro. Just enjoy your retirement."

For his part, Smith and his team have left the videos up, comments and all. It seems he has the self-confidence to stand by his promotional material, even if it possibly needed enhancement. However, this isn't the only snag in his return to music. There's yet another controversy surrounding Smith's tour that's truly souring his reputation.

In January 2026, a violinist who had been on tour with Will Smith accused the "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" rapper of wrongful termination and sexual harassment. According to NBC News, electric violin player Brian King Joseph joined Smith's tour in December 2024, and the two musicians seemingly hit it off. At one point, Joseph alleges that Smith told him they shared a "special connection." However, the spark would fizzle out when, according to his lawsuit, Joseph detailed a "hotel intrusion" in March 2025 that left him shaken. Several items had been left in his room, and a note that suggested there would be an intimate encounter later.  Joseph filed a police report and followed up with tour management but was ultimately blamed for the incident and fired a few days later.

Though Smith has had a turbulent past, he and his team deny any wrongdoing. Allen B. Grodsky, Smith's lawyer, told NBC that the "allegations concerning my client are false, baseless, and reckless." For their part, Smith's team is standing by the initial claim that they believe Joseph fabricated the incident. However, the suit does allege that there was no follow-up to the violinist's safety concerns. What's more, when he was let go, Joseph was told they no longer needed his services as the band was "moving in a different direction." Yet, after being terminated, it was revealed that Smith hired another violinist anyway, leading Joseph to believe his firing was retaliatory. Either way, as of reporting, the case is still ongoing and surely not helping the beleaguered Smith regain his golden boy status any time soon.