While almost every Oscar night spurs some kind of controversy, it is the 2022 Oscars that is still being talked about despite moving two years beyond it. The Chris Rock–Will Smith slapping incident brought about a storm in both the stars’ lives. For Smith, the slapgate put a dent in his perfect and superhuman-like public image greatly. Despite the scrutiny the actor has been facing for over two years, he made a grand comeback with one of the highest-grossing movies of 2024, Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

Just as fans thought that there was no looking back to the unfortunate night for Will Smith, Andrew Schulz pushed for an interesting interaction between Will Smith and Chris Rock.

Andrew Schulz and Charlamagne tha God recently popped up on the Brilliant Idiots podcast, where Charlamagne mentioned Will Smith’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die and how it scored a billion bucks at the box office. Charlamagne talked about how people are seeing the movie’s success as Will Smith bouncing back from the slapgate incident. While chatting about how the incident might have affected Smith and Chris Rock, Schulz suggested doing an interview to “get both of them back together”.  

Schulz thought, through the interview, Will Smith and Chris Rock could have a heart-to-heart about how the incident impacted them and "talk it out". Meanwhile, Charlamagne believed that Smith did not lose anything due to the incident. The radio host also pointed out that no one brought up the Oscars controversy during the entire press run for Bad Boys: Ride or Die. While he was spot-on about the press run, the controversy might have received a nod in the movie.

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Will Smith has allegedly referenced the Oscars slap in Bad Boys 4, which is now seen as a low blow aimed at both Chris Rock and his fans. 

Bad Boys: Ride or Die is Will Smith’s second movie following the infamous Oscar incident, and the first one to be successful both critically and commercially. In one scene in the movie, Smith’s character is seen getting slapped multiple times by Martin Lawrence’s character after he suffers a panic attack mid-firefight. While it was not a direct nod to the incident, directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall did acknowledge the eerie similarities to real-life events.

“There are some parallels between what’s happening in the movie and real life,” the filmmaker told UNILAD. This was not well-received by Chris Rock. A source told In Touch that Rock “thinks it’s a pretty cheap stunt and he’s telling people how lame he finds it”. While the 2022 slapgate does not seem to be fading from people’s memories anytime soon, Andrew Schulz’s idea could certainly spark another jaw-dropping pop culture moment. 

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What do you think about Andrew Schulz’s suggestion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!