Will Smith Makes First Awards Show Appearance Since Oscars Slap, Wins Beacon Award for 'Emancipation'

Will Smith makes a triumphant awards show return at the 14th Annual AAFCA Awards at the Beverly Wiltshire, A Four Seasons Hotel on Wednesday (March 1) in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The awards show was the first the 54-year-old star has appeared at since the 2022 Oscars, when he slapped Chris Rock across the face onstage for joking about his wife Jade Pinkett Smith‘s hair. He won Best Actor shortly after the shocking moment during the ceremony and was then banned from the Oscars for 10 years.

Read more about Will Smith’s awards show return…

Will‘s return to the awards circuit comes near the end of the 2023 awards season. However, it was an exciting moment as he took the stage to accept The Beacon Award for his movie Emancipation.

He was joined onstage by co-star Charmaine Bingwa and director Antoine Fuqua.

During his acceptance speech, Will referred to Emancipation as “the most difficult film of my entire career,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

“It’s really difficult to transport a modern mind to that time period. It’s difficult to imagine that level of inhumanity,” he explained.

While he won Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture at the 54th NAACP Image Awards on February 25, Will was not present. Janelle Monae accepted the trophy in his name that evening.

“I am absolutely humbled by this,” he wrote about the win on Instagram.

Revisit what Will had to say about the Oscars slap and about his “greatest fear” when Emancipation was released.

Did you know Will was rumored to make an awards show appearance earlier this year?

Scroll through all of the photos from Will Smith’s awards show return at the 14th Annual AAFCA Awards in the gallery…