Will Smith’s infamous Oscars slap ‘slowing down’ production of upcoming movies

Several of Will Smith’s new movies are being put on pause after he slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.

The incident began when Chris Rock made a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, referring to her as the next G.I Jane.

53-year-old Will then stormed the stage and abruptly slapped the host in the face.

The surprising celebrity clash sent shockwaves around the world and Will has since resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In the wake of the controversy, Netflix has reportedly slowed down development on Fast and Loose – an upcoming action thriller set to star the Hollywood actor.

Just a week before the infamous slap, the movie had already lost its director David Leitch and now it seems the project is heading into further complications.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the fourth instalment of Bad Boys 4 has also been put on pause by Sony for the time being.

The highly anticipated movie would have seen Smith reunited with co-star Martin Lawrence as a maverick Miami drugs agent.

It was reported that around 40 pages of the script had been written before it came to a sudden halt.

The fallout of the controversial Oscars slap has also caused complications regarding his biopic after Netflix and Apple+ both pulled out.

The two streaming giants were originally fighting for rights to host the biopic – based on his best-selling autobiography, Will – but both “quietly removed their bids.”

A source revealed to The Sun that Netflix and Apple+ will instead “relocate the funds and develop original ideas from new black actors."

After hearing the news, fans of the King Richard star took to Twitter to express their outrage over the decision.

One user wrote: "I know Will Smith slapped someone, but I am genuinely shocked at how quickly Hollywood is moving to end his career right now. I mean putting his movies on pause?

"I think that's a bit much when many abusers get away with worse and get to still have their careers."

Another penned: "Hollywood silently trying to blacklist THE Will Smith over an incident he already apologized for twice has got to be one of the most obvious examples of the systematic racism still present in the industry."

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