Will Smith has a complicated relationship with his eldest son, Trey.
Over the years, Will Smith has upheld the perception that his family is essential to him and has always spoken up for them.
However, that’s not always been the case.
While his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith and children Willow and Jaden have become well-known in their own right…
His relationships with his former wife Sheree Zampino and, in particular, his eldest son Trey, have received less attention.
As we know, the Smith family have had a pretty bad rap over the last year.
And the latest news about his relationship with his son isn’t helping Will’s image.
First, let’s go back to where it all started…
It was one of the craziest Oscars moments in history.
Rock pleaded that it was only a ‘GI Jane joke’, but Smith was having none of it, shouting back after slapping him: “Keep my wife’s name out your f****** mouth.”
Smith was subsequently banned from the Oscars.
In the aftermath of the slap Rock’s mom has hit back on the ban, saying that her son is doing well but still ‘processing’ the incident.
“I told someone, when Will slapped Chris, he slapped all of us, but he really slapped me. When you hurt my child, you hurt me,” Rose Rock told WIS.
When she was asked what she would say to Smith, she said: “I have no idea what I would say other than, ‘What in the world were you thinking?’ Because you did a slap, but so many things could have happened. Chris could have stepped back and fallen. You really could have gotten taken out in handcuffs. You didn’t think. You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye, and you went up, and you made her day because she was bowled over laughing when it happened.”
However, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Rock spoke out about the incident…
Will Smith has eternally been slammed by others in the hip hop industry, and Rock only added to the fire with his apparent comment to Dave Chapelle.
Chapelle said to Rock: “At least you got smacked by someone of repute! I got smacked by a homeless guy with leaves in his hair.”
That’s when Rock replied with:
“I got smacked by the softest n**** that ever rapped.”
After Smith gave Rock a smack across the cheeks, Smith was subsequently banned from the Oscars for ten years.
And Rock has revealed that he won’t be returning to his hosting duties.
A video posted on Instagram by Smith addressed a series of questions about ‘slap gate’ on social media which had been left unanswered…
Smith was asked why he did not apologize to Rock in his acceptance speech, but it seemed like Smith was still in shock himself after his own actions.
“I was fogged out by that point. It’s all fuzzy. I have reached out to Chris, and the message that came back is that he is not ready to talk and when he is, he will reach out.
“So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable, and I am here whenever you are ready to talk,” he said.
Rock wasn’t the only person Smith apologized to.
In the video, he mentioned his mother, father, and brother and apologized to them too, who witnessed the slap.
“I spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuances and complexities of what happened in that moment.
“And I’m not going to try and unpack all of that right now, but I can say to all of you that there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment,” he added.
“There is no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle feelings of disrespect or insults,” Smith said.
Many people speculated that his wife, Jada Smith, had some part in this.
However, Smith denied any claims that his wife had anything to do with him getting up on stage and slapping Rock.
“No, I made a choice on my own, from my own experience and my history with Chris.
“No, I made a choice on my own, from my own experience and my history with Chris. Jada had nothing to do with it,” he confessed.
After apologizing to Rock and his family, he took the time to apologize to his wife…
“I’m sorry babe, and I want to say sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I brought on all of us,” he said.
Rock opened up about why he decided not to host The Oscars again next year…
During a show in Phoneix, Arizona, on August 28, the comedian said he was offered to host the show once again.
However, he turned down the offer.
Rock gave an analogy to explain why he would never go back to host the Oscars anymore.
He referenced the murder trial of O.J. Simpson, according to Arizona Republic, telling the crowd at Arizona Financial Theatre that going back to the Oscars would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson “to go back to the restaurant” where she left her glasses before being killed.
And now, the comedian has finally addressed the joke he made at the Oscars.
For those who need a reminder, the joke Rock said at the Oscars was, “Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.”
Rock was referencing Jada shaved head.
And as we all know, not everyone in the crowd was too happy with the joke.
Jada has been vocal about her struggles with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that causes bald spots and hair loss.
After delivering the infamous slap that was heard around the world, Smith returned to his seat, where he shouted, “keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth.”
Smith has since apologized 3 times — first, after he accepted his Oscar for his role in King Richard, then again in an Instagram post before his public apology video last month.
But it seems like Rock isn’t having any of it.
Rock previously addressed the incident with fellow comedian Dave Chapelle on his tour in the UK.
In one of the shows, Chapelle asked Rock whether the slap hurt or not.
Rock responded by telling the crowd at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena: “God damn right… the motherf***er hit me over a bulls**t joke, the nicest joke I ever told.”
“A lot of people forget who Will Smith is. Then 10 minutes before he was about to get the biggest award… he acted like he was back in Philadelphia,” he said.
And it seems Smith has remained a topic of conversation as Rock’s European tour continues.
On September 3, Rock was joined by Chappelle at London’s O2 Arena.
Rock reportedly kicked things off on stage by addressing a video that had surfaced online of Smith…
It was the apology he posted on YouTube back in July.
In the video, Smith said that the situation was “all fuzzy” and recalled his apology to Rock…
But Rock hit back and said: “F**k your hostage video.”
He admitted that “s**t hurt,” and added: “He played Ali. I can’t even play Floyd Mayweather.”
Shortly after, Rock referred to Smith as controversial hip-hop figure Suge Knight who is currently in prison with a twenty-eight-year sentence.
As per reports, he continued to call the actor “Suge Smith.”
Chappelle also took to the stage, where spoke about the moment Rock was attacked…
“That was some scary s**t,” Chappelle said.
He then told Rock to always be himself, unlike Smith, who “did an impression of a perfect man for 30 years.”
“I just hope he doesn’t put that mask back on,” Chapelle added.
And now, a Netflix special has explored the controversy further…
Rock’s one-hour Netflix set, performed from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, focused on jokes about the slap.
The title of the comedy special, Selective Outrage, seems to make it clear Smith is front and center of the focus.
The groundbreaking event hit Netflix on Saturday, 4 March at 10pm ET.
But many people were not pleased with the performance.
He made one flat joke about the slap.
“Anybody that say words hurt has never been punched in the face.”
He laughed, “People are like, ‘Did it hurt?’ It still hurts! I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears!”
One viewer wrote: “So from what I understand about the Netflix special, Chris Rock still isn’t funny.”
“I turned this Chris Rock s**t on and turned it right off. Almost canceled Netflix cuz this s**t so awful,” added another.
Critics agreed, too.
USA Today said Rock was “a sad old man yelling at clouds,” adding: “He’s crotchety. He’s mean. He’s predictable and boring.”
And there was another facet of the performance which didn’t go down well.
His comments on Jada Pinkett Smith’s extra-marital affair.
One wrote: “Y’all gave Will Smith hell for slapping a man who publicly disrespected his wife. That man has now gone on to amplify his disrespect, humiliation and disparagement of Jada.”
Another agreed: “I’m not even a Will and Jada fan like that but Chris Rock’s performance was disgusting.”
Chris Rock joked: “Will Smith practices selective outrage because everybody knows what the f**k happened.
“Everybody knows I had nothing to do with that s**t. I didn’t have any entanglements.”
“Will Smith’s wife was f**king her son’s friend.”
Rock also questioned why the pair did an interview on the topic, saying: “I have no idea why two talented people would do something that f**king low down. What the f**k?
“We all been cheated on, everybody in here been cheated on. None of us have ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television. None of us.
“They’re like, ‘Hey, I was sucking somebody else’s d***. How did that make you feel?'”
Fans also believe that Rock deliberately chose the filming location to troll the Smiths.
One wrote: “You can’t tell me Chris Rock hosting that show in Baltimore out of all places was a coincidence.”
Another agreed: “It’s iconic that he’s doing this show in Baltimore Hippodrome Theatre, which is Jada’s hometown.”
A third wrote: “Chris Rock tapping his performance in Baltimore, Jada’s hometown, is giving big You/Joe energy.”
And a source has revealed to PEOPLE that Jada is not happy.
“Jada has had no part in all of this other than being heckled,” the source says. “Chris is obsessed with her and that’s been going on for almost 30 years.”
“Look where he chose to film his Netflix special. Her hometown. Obsessed.
“Back in 2016 she helped start a movement with the Academy Awards by questioning why there are so few Black members, and Chris took it to this?”
However, an old video of Jada seemingly “tormenting” Will has lead some to believe Rock was right about her all along.
The clip, from one of Jada’s Instagram Live’s, has been circulating online after everything that’s happened.
It was uploaded on Reddit and shows Jada filming Will without his permission and forcefully asking him to answer a question.
Jada explained that their marriage therapist, Esther Perel, will be on an episode of her show, Red Table Talk.
Jada asks him whether he thinks she’s been “instrumental in you and I redefining our relationship?”
As she pans the camera to Will, to ask him, he appears visibly uncomfortable with being filmed.
Will responds: “I would say don’t just start filming me without asking me.”
Things only get more awkward to watch when she replies: “Oh my god. I’m still dealing with foolishness.”
She then carries on: “Would you say that she helped us heal the hurts that we caused between one another?”
Will then says: “My social media presence is my bread and butter. So you can’t just use me for social media. Don’t just start rolling, I’m standing in my house. Don’t start rolling.”
Jada turns the camera towards herself and says: “Please watch Esther at the Red Table because she’s helped us a lot,” sarcastically adding: “Can’t you tell?”
Check out the video here.
But that’s not the only thing that’s gotten people talking…
Will Smith’s relationship with his eldest son has sparked a lot of comments.
Trey, who turned 30 this past November, was born during the first year of Will and Sheree’s marriage, which lasted from 1992 to 1995.
They were close while he was growing up, and he even appeared in his father’s Just the Two of Us music video back in 1998.
However, a rift developed between Will and his son after his divorce, his 1997 marriage to Jada, and the subsequent birth of Jaden and Willow.
They drifted away over time, and it wasn’t until many years had passed that Will started to get back in touch with his ex-wife and son thanks to Jada’s intervention.
They eventually became a close-knit family, with Trey becoming close with his step-siblings and Sheree and Jada growing closer together. Trey even made multiple appearances on Red Table Talk.
In a 2018 video that he released while on vacation with Trey, Will revealed that their relationship had previously been tense.
“It has not always been like this between Trey & I. We STRUGGLED FOR YEARS after my divorce from his Mother. He felt betrayed & abandoned. It is a wild blessing to recover & restore a loving relationship with my beautiful son!” he penned.
Sheree even commented, writing: “Awwwwwwwww…thank you baby daddy!!!!!! I love you back! And thank you @treysmith0011 for being the reason we came together. And to @jadapinkettsmith for being an understanding, secure, and absolutely AMAZING wife, mother, Bonus-mom, and Co-parenting partner!”
