The Oscar-winning actor, 55, speaking with Complex correspondent Speedy Morman in a 360 with Speedy segment published Tuesday, was asked if a reported $350 million net worth gleaned via a Google search was accurate.
‘I don’t even know man,’ the King Richard actor replied. ‘I don’t discuss such things.’
Morman asked Smith if he’s ‘on par’ with a luxury lifestyle after more than three decades in the limelight, and questioned what his relationship with money is like.
Smith said he’s in the ‘downsize phase’ of his life, as his mentality has shifted from gathering to giving.
+9
Will Smith, 55, detailed his goals in life moving forward after evading a question about his net worth in an interview with Complex published Tuesday
+9
Wednesday marks the two-year anniversary of Smith’s infamous slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, which has had significant professional ramifications for the actor
The Emancipation star said he’s seen other successful celebrities change their lives around the age of 50, citing Jim Carrey as an example of a ‘drastic public transformation in that way.’
Smith said that ‘what happens is, you just realize none of it can make you happy.’
He added: ‘Once you’ve bought everything you want and there’s literally nothing on earth else that you want to buy … there’s nothing that material can do to satisfy you.’
The Wild Wild West star said he’s in a ‘scary’ phase of his life when ‘there’s literally nothing that can make you happy,’ citing relationships, money and kids.
He added: ‘That happy is an internal, full-frontal contact with your dark knight of the soul and you reconcile that you got to make happy in [your head] – you got to make happy in [your heart] – with none of that stuff.
‘You got to take happy to the people you love – you can’t try to get it from them … that is … it’s not for the faint of heart.’
The interview with was published Tuesday, when Variety reported that Smith and his spouse Jada Pinkett Smith, 52, are shuttering their charity organization, the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation, following a massive dip in donations since the 2022 Oscars.
The outlet, citing tax records from ProPublica, noted that the nonprofit lost major corporate donors such as American Airlines and CAA.
Will Smith breaks his silence after infamous Chris Rock slap
+9
The Oscar-winning actor speaking with Complex correspondent Speedy Morman in an interview published Tuesday, was asked if a reported $350 million net worth gleaned via a Google search was accurate
+9
The King Richard actor replied: ‘I don’t even know man … I don’t discuss such things’
+9
Smith said he’s in the ‘downsize phase’ of his life, as his mentality has shifted from gathering to giving
The charity organization, which began in 1996, took in $1,760,000 in 2020 and $2,138,660 in 2021 prior to an 83 percent freefall to $365,870 in 2022 in the wake of the infamous incident.
The couple had it in mind to shutter the foundation ahead of the incident involving Rock, a source told the outlet, as they had hoped to channel their primary efforts on the charity front toward being private donors.
Wednesday marks the two-year anniversary of Smith’s infamous slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars on March 27, 2022, in which he slapped comedian Chris Rock after he made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
The joke was about her shaved head, saying, ‘Jada, I love you, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it!’ in a reference to the 1997 movie which featured Demi Moore with a shaved head. (Pinkett Smith has diagnosed with alopecia, which causes hair loss.)
Smith then walked onstage and smacked Rock, then returned to his seat and shouted at him twice, ‘Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!’ to a stunned audience.
Later in the evening – in his acceptance speech after winning the Best Actor Oscar for his role as tennis patriarch Richard Williams in King Richard – Smith apologized to the Academy and other nominees, but made no reference to Rock.
Smith subsequently apologized on multiple occasions over the incident, and resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ahead of being issued a 10-year ban from the Oscars.
Chris Rock mocks Will Smith and accuses star of ‘selective outrage’
+9
Smith and his spouse Jada Pinkett Smith are shuttering their charity organization, the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation, following a massive dip in donations since the 2022 Oscars
+9
Smith is nearly two years removed from his infamous incident at the 2022 Oscars, in which he slapped comedian Chris Rock after he made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith
In an apology he issued in July of 2022 over the incident in an online clip, Smith said his spouse ‘had nothing to do with’ his attack on Rock.
‘I made a choice on my own from my own experiences, from my history with Chris,’ he said. ‘I want to say sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I’ve brought on all of us.’
He added: ‘I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s 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’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.’
