With Bad Boys: Ride or Die, is Will Smith's comeback complete?

It's been two years since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars and ever since then, it feels like everything he's done has been in a bid to win back his audience. Smith recently debuted a new song, You Can Make It, and his new movie Bad Boys: Ride or Die is doing great at the box office. 

Today on Commotion, host Elamin Abdelmahmoud chats with comedian and media personality Marlon Palmer and CBC Entertainment reporter Jackson Weaver about whether Smith's comeback is working — and if it was ever really necessary.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: Maybe it's good to start by asking about your relationship to Will Smith. What does he mean to you, Marlon? 

Marlon: He is my father. He raised me from, I don't know, five to 15. Like, you're talking coming home from school. I have my TV schedule. You gotta watch The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air every single day. It shaped a lot of my personality. I enjoyed seeing him gain more success outside of that arena, especially learning what he did for rap in the early days — the boycott, and the Grammy and stuff. He's just a larger-than-life figure. I think he should be an inspiration to a lot of people. He's someone that seems to only want to inspire and bring joy and peace to other people — except for Chris Rock. That is what I enjoy about Will Smith the most. I think he's just great.

Jackson: Dang.

Elamin: The notion of him being your father? He's many of our fathers, man.

Marlon: Yeah, absolutely.

Elamin: Between 1996 and 2006, it was a run like Jay-Z. It was just like every year, Will Smith owned the summer; every year, Will Smith owned your TV. Jackson, what does he mean to you?

Jackson: I grew up in Vancouver, and I was the only Black person in Vancouver, it felt like. 

Marlon: You were.

Jackson: I think I was the only one. But on my TV, I could watch the amazing Will Smith. The year that it came out — I think I was like 11 or 12 — in a two week span, I watched Bad Boys II 16 times.

Elamin: That's called taste. That's what that is.

Jackson: And it was amazing every single time. And I think the first CD I ever bought was Wild Wild West.

Marlon: Oh, wow.

Jackson: And those two things shaped my cultural understanding to this day.

Elamin: He's foundational to Black people, and particularly to Black men of a certain age, and I say this including myself. Look, You Can Make It is a [new Will Smith] song that he performed at the BET Awards this weekend with the Sunday Service Choir. [The lyrics read] like a Black Tony Robbins. How do you feel about how this song fits in Will Smith's general arc?

Marlon: It's very consistent, although he has amped it up a bit with the Christianity. 

Elamin: You don't say. 

Marlon: We know him as a Scientologist. We don't know him as a Christian. 

Elamin: There are longtime rumours that he was associated with the Church of Scientology. But in terms of him talking about God, I think that is new. 

Marlon: Fairly new, right? And I mean, I think it's needed in a time like this for him. There's no redemption like a religious redemption, and I think he's doing what he always does: choosing to inspire in the face of adversity. 

We don't really see him have these public falters, if you will. So to see him try to bounce back and in the way he's choosing to do so — it hasn't been defensive, which I liked. He hasn't ever been like, "Well, Chris did this."... It's just been like, "You know what? I accept my L. I'll do what I need to do to win you guys back." I like that attitude. 

Elamin: Marlon, the idea of rehabilitating Will Smith the person, is that even possible? Or, does he not even need to do this because he's proven he's bankable and still likable? 

Marlon: I think it depends on what community you validate in the comeback. I think if you talk to Black people, he never left. If you talk to people outside of the Black community, you might get mixed opinions. So it all depends on what his goal is, who he deems fit to entertain and to get that validation from. Right now, it just looks like he's back at his base. So, I think he's decided who he's chosen to validate his success going forward. 

Elamin: Jackson, does the term "comeback" apply here? 

Jackson: It does apply. It's working well. Bad Boys 4 is doing great despite my dislike, and I think I agree Will Smith is great. I just think that he's trying his best to be everybody to everyone. I like him, but we'll see if the rest of the world agrees.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Jean Kim.