Will Smith is one of the most famous and beloved entertainers on the planet. But it hasn't always
been an easy stroll to superstardom. Here's an in-depth look at how Smith's
life got flipped turned upside down…and how he became the prince of a town called Hollywood.
In his 2000 hit, "The Real Slim Shady," Eminem called out Will Smith in a big way. His lyrics
seemed to speak to widespread resentment of the rapper-actor in the hip-hop community,
where coarse lyrical content was touted as the very soul of the genre.
Smith, in his Fresh Prince days, got substantial airplay because his material
easily cleared the FCC restrictions of the time — and he almost never uttered a bad
word in any of his early songs. But he had a reason for that. He told Graham Norton,
"I started writing my raps when I was about 12. […] And I had
all my curse words and my four-letter words and everything in [my journal]."
One day when his grandma found the lyrics,
she scribbled a note in the back of the book that read:
"Dear Willard […] truly intelligent people do not have to use words like this to express
themselves. Please show the world that you're as smart as we think you are."
And so, except for his 1991 track "You Saw My Blinker," Smith kept it light and clean.
As one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, Smith enjoys tremendous power in the entertainment
industry. But he wasn't at that level back in early 1989, when he was a 20-year-old rapper
with only two albums to his name. Despite his entry-level status, Smith sent a powerful
message to the music industry that year when he led a boycott of the 31st annual Grammy Awards.
"We feel that it's a slap in the face."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, that ceremony marked the first time that the Academy awarded a
Grammy for Best Rap Performance. And among the nominees were DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
for "Parents Just Don't Understand." The duo actually won, but they didn't accept their award
in person. As the scenario goes, while the Grammys were finally recognizing rap, they weren't handing
out the award during the regular broadcast. DJ Jazzy Jeff told Entertainment Tonight,
"They said there wasn't enough time. They televised 16 categories — and
from record sales, from the 'Billboard' charts, from the overall public's view,
there's no way you can tell me that out of 16 categories, that rap isn't in the top 16."
The duo was joined in skipping the ceremony by Salt-N-Pepa and LL Cool J. Smith said at the time,
"We don't have the problem with the Grammy as an award or the Grammys as an institution,
we just have a problem with the 1989 design of the awards show."
A talented, charismatic, and successful actor, Smith only took up the craft because he was broke.
According to TIME, his second DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince album "He's the DJ,
I'm the Rapper" went triple-platinum and generated the huge hits "Parents
Just Don't Understand" and "Nightmare on My Street." According to Smith's YouTube
series "STORYTIME," Smith blew through his early fortune on cars and designer clothes.
But when his next Fresh Prince album, "And in This Corner," sold poorly, the money ran out.
"Oops."
During his initial period of wealth, Smith had also skipped out on paying his taxes.
The IRS seized his pricey luxuries, and as quickly as he'd become rich,
Smith was suddenly broke and in debt. His girlfriend at the time then suggested he go
hang out at a taping of "The Arsenio Hall Show" — where he met music executive Benny Medina.
It was Medina who wanted to make a show about Smith's teen years, when he moved out of his
dangerous East L.A. neighborhood and next to a wealthy family friend in Beverly Hills. Not
long after, Medina took Smith to a party at the home of entertainment mogul Quincy Jones,
and the three re-worked Medina's pitch into "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
Will Smith cut his acting chops on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," portraying a teen sent away
from his tough West Philly neighborhood to live with his Uncle Phil and Aunt Vivian in California.
Aunt Viv was played by Janet Hubert for three seasons. And for the final three years of the
show, Daphne Maxwell-Reid took over the role. The reason for the switch, according to Smith,
was Hubert's ego and resentful feelings. Smith once told an Atlanta radio station,
"Janet Hubert wanted the show to be 'The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air Show.' She said once,
'I've been in the business for 10 years and this snotty-nosed punk comes along and gets a show.'"
"Aunt Viv! Ugh, she's gone."
"That's right, Will. No one can hear you scream."
The feud continued for years. In 2011, Smith posted a photo
of a "Fresh Prince" cast reunion dinner, in which Hubert was not present. Hubert
then told TMZ that she believed Smith got her fired from their sitcom. She claimed,
"He is still an egomaniac and has not grown up. [A reunion] will never ever
happen in my lifetime unless there is an apology [and] he doesn't know the word."
Smith apparently learned the word, because Hubert was present at a 2020
"Fresh Prince" reunion for HBO Max where the former co-stars patched things up.
Hubert also clarified that she left the show when she was offered a bad
contract that would have sliced her salary significantly, after Season 3.
"You still feel like —"
"Like I'm little."
"Yes."
"You're still my Aunt Viv. You're still my Aunt Viv."
While Smith has clearly proven his global appeal, he has long been able
to carefully choose the roles he plays, as well as the projects he undertakes.
And according to the "On One With Angela Rye" podcast, throughout his career Smith
has actively avoided roles explicitly written for black characters. Instead,
he has aimed to tell stories that have evolved beyond the issue of race. He said,
"I needed to be as high, and fly as high,
as I could possibly fly so that young black kids would see — and really all kids — could
see that type of flying as not something that only white movie stars could do."
"If we're not a part of the solution, we're part of the problem."
But Smith's mindset became more layered in 2020. Following a groundswell for the Black Lives Matter
movement, he signed on to star in "Emancipation," his first film about slavery. He explained,
"The reason I chose 'Emancipation' now is more than ever, we have to
understand the reality of where we came from." In terms of box office, Smith is easily one of
the most successful actors of all time. Seven of his films have earned $500 million during their
theatrical runs. But not on that list: "The Matrix," which brought in over $463 million
and almost starred Will Smith. Rather than sign on to the pioneering sci-fi franchise-starter,
Smith made "Wild Wild West." Budgeted at a whopping $170 million, "Wild Wild West" broke
Smith's blockbuster streak, taking in just $222 million worldwide — and the savage ire of critics.
"Woo! That was fun."
In a 2019 video on his YouTube channel, Smith admitted that mistakes were made
at that point in his career. Acknowledging his large ego at the time, he explained,
"I probably would have messed 'The Matrix' up.
I would have ruined it. […] So I made 'Wild Wild West.' I'm not proud of it."
Smith also passed on a few other big-ticket hits. When it came to "Django Unchained," he
told The Hollywood Reporter that he disagreed with Quentin Tarantino's vision for the story.
He also skipped out on "Independence Day: Resurgence," the 2016 sequel to
the film that launched his action star career. He posted on Facebook,
"I had the two screenplays in front of me for 'Independence Day 2' and for 'Suicide Squad.'
I had to choose. [I wanted] to go forward versus clinging and clawing backwards."
"They ask me a bunch of questions all the time anyway."
"What questions?"
"About you and us and I ain't tellin' em s---." According to Brides magazine, Will met his future
wife, Jada Pinkett, when she unsuccessfully auditioned for a role on "The Fresh Prince
of Bel-Air." A few years later, they started dating and they got married in 1997. But after
more than 20 years and two kids together, the union hasn't been without its drama.
In 2013, Jada told "HuffPost Live" that their marriage was an open one, adding,
"I've always told Will, 'You can do whatever you want as long as you can look at yourself
in the mirror and be okay.' Will is his own man. I'm here as his partner, but he is his own man."
"I had to have the courage to unravel it."
On a 2020 episode of her series "Red Table Talk," Jada revealed that she and Will had
temporarily split in the mid-2010s, during which time she dated singer August Alsina. The Smiths
obviously reunited. But on another episode of her show that year, Jada implied that she and
Will were doing a lot of work on their marriage — and that they had a long way to go. She revealed,
"Will and I are in the process of him taking the time to learn to love himself,
me taking the time to learn to love myself, […] and us building a friendship along the way."
Smith seems to relish life as a parent. He said on "Red Table Talk,"
"From the time I was 6 years old, I wanted to be a father."
"Imma marry me a beautiful honey, and I'm havin' me a whole bunch of kids."
Professionally, Smith has affirmed the importance of the father role, in his top 20 hit "Just the
Two of Us," with lyrics about his bond with his son, as well as in the 2019 AppleTV documentary
"Dads." In his personal life, however, Smith has experienced some dad-related hardships.
He was once estranged from Trey, his son with first wife. He posted on Instagram in 2018,
"[Trey and I] struggled for years after my divorce from his mother. He felt betrayed and abandoned."
They have since reconciled and Smith says Trey now considers him to be his best friend. Smith also
has two kids with Jada; son Jaden and daughter Willow. Having started out as an actor in several
movies, Jaden has since carved out a career with his music and fashion. And subsequent to Willow's
massive 2010 hit "Whip My Hair," she has dabbled in modeling, music, and other creative outlets.
As half of the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Will Smith arguably helped bring rap
music and hip-hop culture into the mainstream. And ever since, he's been highly influential in
launching or spreading trends. His 1997 track "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" proved so popular that
"jiggy" briefly became a popular slang term. It means "wonderful and exciting," and was added to
the Random House Webster's College Dictionary in 2000. An editor for the outlet noted,
"He didn't make it up, but he popularized it."
"All this for y'all. See, this is social media love right here. This is social media…stupidity."
With more than 50 million followers on Instagram, Smith is, in effect, an influencer. And in 2018,
he gave huge popularity and a visibility boost to a burgeoning — and possibly dangerous — fad
called The Kiki Challenge, according to Firstpost. Participants filmed themselves getting out of a
moving car and dancing to Drake's "In My Feelings" while the car kept moving. Smith took on the
Instagram challenge by getting waaay out of the car and dancing high atop a bridge in Budapest.
Ever since the mid-'90s, studios have paid Smith a literal fortune to star in their movies.
According to Complex, "Bad Boys" netted him $2 million in '95, and "Independence Day" brought
him a $5 million paycheck. By 1998's "Enemy of the State," his asking price was $14 million.
Then, in 2012, Smith earned $100 million for "Men in Black 3," including his salary
and a cut of box office revenue, according to The Hollywood Reporter. And as of 2019,
the outlet noted his baseline acting fee stood at $20 million. As Variety reported,
he took cuts to $12.5 million each for "Aladdin" and "Gemini Man,"
and bumps for "Bright" and a sequel, collecting $27 million and $35 million, respectively.
"I might be overdoin' it, but…"
Smith makes his money through other channels, too. Not only did he launch a line of merch
based on the show, but "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" still airs in syndication in nearly
200 countries around the world — and with that, comes big royalty checks. In 2019, Fast Company
estimated the market valuation of Will and Jaden Smith's Just Water company to be at $100 million.
He also expanded beyond his TV and film production company into new media and technology with a
holding company called Westbrook Inc. And years ago, Smith put a large sum of cash into a venture
capital fund that received a windfall as one of the first investors in Uber. Altogether,
as of 2021, Will Smith's net worth stands at $350 million. And that sounds pretty jiggy to us.
"And…that's the story of how I became the prince of Bel Air."
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