Will Smith isn’t shying away from controversy in his latest musical comeback. The actor and rapper, 56, has released Based on a True Story, his first full-length solo album in nearly 20 years, and he’s using it to reflect on one of the most talked-about moments of his career: the 2022 Oscars slap.
The album’s opening track, Int. Barbershop — Day, wastes no time tackling the infamous moment. The song begins with a voice declaring, “Will Smith is canceled,” before a series of different voices weigh in with their opinions.
“Who the f— Will Smith think he is?” one voice asks, while another says, “I ain’t never going to forgive him for that s— he did.”
Later in the track, Will directly references the moment he slapped comedian Chris Rock after a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith. “I heard he won the Oscar but he had to give it back / And you know they only made him do that shit because he’s Black.”
For the record, Will never had to return his Oscar for King Richard, but he was banned from Academy events for a decade and resigned from the organization himself.
The song also nods to the heated exchange between Chris and Will before the slap: “Him and Jada both crazy girl, what you talkin’ bout? / You better keep his wife’s name out of your mouth.”
Will hasn’t commented further on the album’s lyrics, but the message is clear—he’s ready to own the moment on his own terms.
