Will Smith and his slap made a sound around the world and kept echoing for the rest of the year. He has been known for decades due to his acting skills and sense of humor. In fact, the Oscars night belonged to him, as he received an award for portraying Richard Williams in the movie King Richard.

But things took a wrong fall when he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars. This happened in June, and despite his efforts, the topic refuses to die down. If anything, angry fans have refused to let the topic die down and it has affected his big-budget movie Emancipation as well. Perhaps, he was the biggest polarizing influencers celebrity this year?

A look back into how Will Smith became a polarizing celebrity of 2022

Will Smith made a public apology to Chris Rock after slapping him at the Oscars. But he made it to the list of BusinessInsider’s list of polarizing influencers of 2022. While the Academy Awards are usually celebrated for an actor’s achievements and amazing performances, this year’s spotlight was stolen by Smith’s controversy. He quickly turned from an inspirational celebrity to a polarizing influential figure for the year. Yes, the actor disappeared from the limelight, hoping to move on from the incident. Upon returning, his PR team ensured he made positive appearances thereafter.

As for celebrities, they were left in splits. While many slammed the actor, there were few like Nicki Minaj and Tiffany Hadish who supported Smith for standing up for his wife when Rock made fun of her bald head and pointed out how she looked like G.I. Jane. But most others worried about how the actor was normalizing violence, and that he thought he was untouchable.

On the less serious part, the slapgate incident became an absolute source of meme content for people. From games to hilarious posts, the meme content has been trending to no end. As for Chris Rock, he never publicly accepted the apology made by Smith. But his live comedy show Selective Outrage is set to be held next year, a week before the Oscars.

What do you think? Do you believe Smith is a polarizing celebrity? Comment your thoughts.