Will Smith Fans Upset He's on 'Personal Baggage' List With Brad Pitt

Some Will Smith fans are enraged on Tuesday after an article by The Hollywood Reporter listed him among several Oscar contenders whose behavior offscreen might affect their award-season success.

In March, Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Academy Awards on stage after he made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, a move that largely overshadowed the entirety of the award show that night. Smith apologized to Rock and to the Academy for his outburst. He later resigned from the Academy and was banned from all events for the next 10 years.

On Monday, The Hollywood Reporter included Smith in a list of Oscar contenders who might face trouble or judgment when it comes to winning the award based on their behavior. Also on the list were actors Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck and Letitia Wright. The article also mentioned filmmakers Roman Polanski and Woody Allen, among several others.

Fans on Tuesday, however, rushed to defend Smith and Wright on social media.

"Comparing Will Smith and Letitia Wright to a whole abuser is nasty," said one Twitter user. "Hollywood Reporter y'all should be ashamed of yourselves."

Pitt was recently hit with allegations of domestic violence from his ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, who claimed that he was abusive to her and their children on a flight in 2016.

Black Panther star Wright, meanwhile, was called out for posting an anti-vaccination video on her Twitter in 2020. She later apologized after the video was taken down.

Another Twitter user on Tuesday wrote, "Nothing Letitia Wright or Will Smith did warranted comparing them to a man who absued [sic] his wife and kids, a pedophile, and a man notorious for abusing women in the industry... Pitt, Polanski & Weinstein are terrible human beings who deserve to rot in hell..."

One user, who responded to a tweet regarding Wright's appearance on the list, said, "I would also like to add adding Will Smith in here for a slap when Pitt and the others are accused on violent and continuous domestic abuse was also A CHOICE."

While Smith has yet to remark on the article, Wright condemned The Hollywood Reporter and the writer of the story on her social media on Tuesday.

Telling her Instagram story viewers that she had to "unblock" the outlet in order to post her message, she said, "Scott Feinberg and all at this publication. You're all incredibly disrespectful. How dare you. You mentioned my name alongside men who have been accused of abuse & sexual misconduct. This is vile behaviour."

"I've remained silent as the world told me to kill myself two years ago for a video I posted and apologised for. I kept my head down and focused on my craft. And now I'm at the other side of it," she wrote in a follow-up post.

Newsweek reached out to a representative for Smith for comment.

Update 11/22/22, 11:19 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and background.