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Even if Antoine Fuqua’s Emancipation had turned out to be the awards season juggernaut many were predicting when it was first announced, star Will Smith wouldn’t have even been allowed to show up at the Academy Awards should he have ended up securing another nomination for Best Actor.
We don’t need to state the reasons why, but after the hard-hitting slavery drama failed to set critics alight or seize the cultural conversation in the way the best prestige pictures do, any notion of a quickfire comeback for the fallen superstar was quickly put on the back burner.
Smith has lined up Bad Boys 4 as his next project, and a blockbuster sequel to a proven franchise performer is about the most straightforward method of getting back into the good books as you can find. Emancipation hasn’t been forgotten about completely, though, with the Oscar winner securing his first Best Actor trophy since the slap heard around the world at the NAACP Image Awards.
Thankfully, the ceremony passed without incident or gags being made at either Smith of Chris Rock’s expense, but host Queen Latifah needn’t have worried about any doomsday scenarios unfolding seeing as the recipient of the prize wasn’t there in person. While the King Richard headliner recently poked fun at the Oscars debacle on TikTok, he still didn’t feel the need to appear in the flesh to collect the freshest addition to his trophy cabinet, but at least he’s back to winning gongs without stealing headlines for all the wrong reasons.