Will Smith returns to the Oscar race with Emancipation after Chris Rock slap


Can Will Smith get another Oscar nomination only a year after the slap? We're about to find out.
Apple TV+ has announced that Emancipation, a new movie starring Smith as a runaway slave, will premiere this December, meaning it will be eligible for the 2023 Academy Awards. The first trailer for the film was also released.
The New York Times previously reported that Apple was debating when to release Emancipation after Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at the 2022 Oscars, raising questions over whether the film could still be an awards contender.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Academy has banned Smith from attending the Oscars for the next 10 years. But he was not banned for being nominated or even winning, opening up the possibility he could earn a Best Actor nod for Emancipation but be unable to attend the ceremony.
Apple held the first screening of Emancipation with the NAACP over the weekend, after which NAACP President Derrick Johnson tweeted that he "can't begin to tell how powerful this is for OUR community and OUR history," calling the movie a "story of adversity, of resilience, of love, and of triumph."
Apple's decision to release Emancipation in December may have been driven by the fact that it isn't believed to have any other Best Picture contenders in the mix this season. But it's an open question whether Academy voters will be willing to embrace the film, and especially Smith's performance in it, so soon after the slap controversy. Smith apologized for his behavior at the Oscars in July, saying there's "no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
The Japanese salarymen with a side hustle as cheerleaders
Under The Radar 'Suited and booted' Cheer Re-Man's cheer squad are 'injecting high-flying excitement' into Japan's business world
-
Is a River Alive? – a 'powerful synthesis of literature, activism and ethics'
The Week Recommends Robert Macfarlane's latest book centres on his journeys to four river systems around the world
-
Good One: an 'intensely compelling' coming-of-age tale
The Week Recommends India Donaldson's 'quietly devastating' debut feature about a teenage girl's life-changing camping trip
-
And the Oscar goes to … no one in particular: Movies made with AI can now win awards
Under the radar Generative AI is no longer a barrier to acclaim
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
Oscars 2025: Anora’s Cinderella triumph
Feature The film about a stripper who elopes with the son of a Russian oligarch takes home four Oscars
-
The best body horror movies of the last half-century
The Week Recommends If 'The Substance' piqued your interest, these other films will likely be your speed
-
Why Japanese residents can't watch their country's Oscar-nominated #MeToo documentary
THE EXPLAINER Shiori Ito became one of the faces of Japan's #MeToo movement
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
I'm Still Here: 'superb' drama explores Brazil's military dictatorship
The Week Recommends Fernanda Torres delivers 'phenomenal' performance as mother whose life is shattered by violence in the Oscar-nominated drama
-
2025 Oscars: voters, record-breakers and precedent-setters
The explainer A walk through Academy Awards history, both past and present