Will Smith’s Big Bad Boys Box Office Came on the Heels of One of His Best Rollouts

It’s almost jarring to hear Will recount an anecdote that aligns itself with the common Black Parenting experience, considering most of the narratives around his two youngest children since they became celebrities in their own right is how “different” they are. Of course, the unorthodox nature of the Smith household has been in conversation for years now, thanks to one of the most painfully transparent marriages in Hollywood history. So it’s intriguing that the common thread through all of Smith’s viral moments during his Ride or Die media blitz has been that he, like that last tweet says, is just being real as fuck. Most of this tour has, save a Full Send there or Hot Ones here, been in communion with his Black fans in particular: the ones who have boosted all four Bad Boys films to date, and who, in a common refrain that I’ve noticed on social media this past week, have proclaimed that “we” never turned our backs on Will Smith over the thing with Chris Rock. It’s a mindset Will likely picked up on and leaned into, and it’s paid off handsomely.