Why Hollywood Can't Stand Will And Jada Pinkett Smith

Being a Hollywood super couple is no walk in the park, as double the power usually means
double the attention in Tinsel Town.
Will Smith and his outspoken other half Jada have gotten used to that over the course of
their 20-year marriage, though that doesn't mean they always know how to handle the heat
of the spotlight.
A series of public scandals combined with a period of professional decline has lead
to their stock dropping significantly in Hollywood, to the point that the community they were
once very much a vital part of has started to turn their back on them.
This is why Hollywood can't stand Will and Jada Pinkett Smith anymore.
High hopes
Fresh Prince of Bel Air's original Aunt Viv, actress Janet Hubert, has a long history of
feuding with the Smiths, and that came to a head in 2016 when she advised the couple,
via the Los Angeles Times,
"You're not kings and queens.
You're not royalty.
You're simply entertainers."
That's not how the Smiths always see it, however, especially Will.
Back in 2007 the Men In Black star told Daily Mail that his ambition was to be the first
black President in American history, saying,
"I'm going to be President of the United States.
I always wanted to be the first black president but Barack Obama stole my idea.
That's OK with me.
Barack can go first and then I'll take my turn."
"It's true, you know.
What can I do?”
“You did the right thing.”
“I did the right thing.”
Smith restarted the rumor mill towards the end of 2015 when he said,
"If people keep saying all the crazy kinds of stuff they've been saying on the news lately
about walls and Muslims, they're going to force me into the political arena."
It's certainly not unheard of for an entertainer to achieve political heights, but given some
of their other controversial connections and recent setbacks, it might be a tougher road
for Smith to travel.
Oscar boycott backlash
When Will Smith didn't get a Best Actor nomination for 2015's Concussion despite the Oscar buzz
that surrounded the biographical football film, Jada announced her intention to boycott
the Oscars for the lack of diversity in nominees, and Will ultimately supported his wife's stance
in the press.
"I think that diversity is the American superpower."
While some rallied to the cause, like director Spike Lee, some of the Smiths' peers took
a different stance.
At the American Black Film Festival Awards, Jamie Foxx said that they needed to "hashtag
act better" if they expected to win awards, and even Oscar host Chris Rock took a swipe
at her in his opening monologue.
"Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna's panties.
I wasn't invited."
In other words, if this was an effort to establish a political platform for the pair, it didn't
receive the kind of resounding praise they were probably hoping for.
Kooky kids
It's no secret that Will and Jada have raised their children to embrace their unique identities,
but when the two youngest, Willow and Jaden, spoke to T Magazine in 2014, it became very
clear just how eccentric these celeb children had become.
In the chat, Jaden revealed that his goal in life was to be "the most craziest of all
time," while Willow touted her ability to manipulate time, saying, "I mean, time for
me, I can make it go slow or fast, however I please, and that's how I know it doesn't
exist."
Because of this and other interview snippets, the kids have been consistently blasted for
being spoiled and self-centered by the press.
Their personal philosophies notwithstanding, Willow and Jaden's careers in music and acting
have become front and center of the Smith family's energy lately, and the two have had
mixed successes in both mediums.
Will and Jada's hands-off attitude towards their kids' oddball behaviors became troublesome
for the pair in in 2014 after a picture of their daughter in bed with a shirtless 20
year old man sparked a police investigation.
The Los Angeles Department of Children & Family Services were called to look into the snap
of the then 13 year old Willow, which was taken and posted online by actor Moises Arias
but removed shortly afterwards.
The Smiths cooperated with authorities over the investigation, but Jada took a different
approach when it came to the press.
She later said of the incident,
"Here's the deal: there was nothing sexual about that picture or that situation.
You guys are projecting your trash onto it, and you're acting like covert pedophiles,
and that's not cool."
Even so, such negative attention has certainly taken a toll on the family's public profile.
Controversial connections
As much as the general public enjoys poking fun at Scientology, the truth is that when
the religion first decided to base itself in California, it made studio execs uneasy.
The church had been offering acting classes for those looking to make it big in the business
for a long time, but their ambitions became clear in 2016 when they opened their very
own movie studio right on Sunset Boulevard.
While Will and Jada never confirmed that they were members, their dealings with Scientology
were exposed in tax records which highlighted a $1.2 million payment made to one of the
church's schools by the Smith's trust in 2010.
When the school closed down in 2013 the couple got all of their money back and have since
associated themselves with Christian and Baptist churches instead, but mud sticks in Tinsel
Town.
But that wasn't the last of their eyebrow-raising financial conflicts.
The Smiths' rep took another blow in 2015 when controversial leader of the Nation of
Islam, Louis Farrakhan revealed that the couple had donated $150,000 to help fund a rally
for the group, which had links to domestic terrorism.
The former Fresh Prince has spent his career strategically avoiding controversial roles
in order to minimize risk, but by associating himself with a controversial political group
he made it a little bit harder for Hollywood to keep on flogging his nice-guy schtick.
Which might be why audiences have become resistant to cough up for tickets to see either of them
Box office bluster
The days when Will Smith was considered a sure thing in Hollywood are now well and truly
behind us, with his 2016 Christmas turkey Collateral Beauty the final nail in his A-list
coffin.
The film's opening numbers were the lowest ever recorded by a wide-release Will Smith
vehicle, and studios began to see the pattern emerging as clearly as everybody else could.
Will had been through another nightmare just 12 months prior when his buzzy performance
in Concussion wasn't acknowledged by the Academy, nor did it turn a profit.
That followed on from the monumental flop that was After Earth, the 2013 sci-fi flick
starring Will alongside his son Jaden.
The would-be blockbuster cost $130 million to make and only managed to claw back $60
million in US receipts.
And Jada's projects don't fare much better either.
In fact, the most success Jada has had in her career to date is when the audience hasn't
been able to see her—voicing hippopotamus Gloria in the animated Madagascar franchise.
The only meaty role of any kind she has been able to sink her teeth into recently has been
in the realm of television, when she played Fish Mooney on Gotham.
In the end, no matter how brightly a Hollywood star shines, when they burn out, no one's
interested anymore.
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Why Hollywood Can't Stand Will And Jada Pinkett Smith

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