Netflix and Apple refuse to work with Will Smith after Oscar incident

Netflix and Apple are dropping projects with Will Smith after he punched Chris Rock in the face during the Academy Awards. The streaming services have withdrawn bids to screen a biographical film about Smith.

Working with Will carries risks. Video services will now work with more family-friendly actors such as Mike Epps and Michael Bachary Jordan.

Sony has frozen work on Bad Boys 4, and Netflix has dropped out of making the crime drama Fast and Loose, which was supposed to star Smith. In addition, Smith voluntarily withdrew from the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts.

Smith punched Rock in the face and used profanity on air during the Academy Awards, responding to an unfortunate joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith.

Minutes after the incident, he was awarded a statuette for Best Actor – in King Richard, 2021. Smith then publicly apologized to The Rock.