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Remember back in March 2022?
When Will Smith jumped up on stage at the Academy Awards and slapped host Chris Rock across the face after Rock made a joke at Jada Pinkett Smith’s expense?
We still can’t believe that happened.
And yet: It may no longer be the most embarrassing thing on Smith’s resume.
Will Smith performs on stage during the “Cabaret Vert” festival in Charleville-Mézières on August 17, 2025. ( (Photo by FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI / AFP)
The actor/rapper just kicked off the United Kingdom leg of his new music tour — and, while doing so, Smith shared a promotional video from his official YouTube channel.
“My favorite part of tour is seeing you all up close. Thank you for seeing me too,” reads a caption attached to the footage, which depicts a large crowd during a concert while fans cheer and stretch their hands towards the artist.
Well. It purports to depict this at least.
A whole bunch of astute observers have watched the video this week and wondered: Uhhh, did Smith us artificial intelligence to conjure up these crowd-goers out of nowhere?
Will Smith performs on stage during the “Based On A True Story” Summer Tour at Festhalle Frankfurt on July 18, 2025 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
Some shots, for example, feature audience members with their faces appearing blurred or distorted… while others seem to have oddly shaped hands, some of which appear to have six fingers.
In one screen capture making the viral rounds, a man’s knuckle is rather blurry along with his sign, which reads: “‘You Can Make It’ helped me survive cancer. THX Will.”
Meanwhile, the lady in front of him is seemingly holding his hand, but the headband of the woman behind her is somehow over her wrist.
See for yourself and make a determination on the validity of this scene below:
(YouTube)
“Imagine being this rich and famous and having to use AI footage of crowds… Tragic, man,” one person wrote as a comment to the video.
Another agreed as follows:
“So not only is this an abomination to look at because it’s low quality phone footage that’s been heavily AI upscaled, but there’s also in-between scenes that are clearly AI-generated.”
There was also this from critic:
One fan remarked: “I don’t want to be that guy but: You can see many people in the crowd having six fingers or more, eyes smudged, faces are distorted. Proving that certain (well, almost all clips that show the audience) are AI-generated.”
Will Smith performs on stage during the Mawazine Festival in Rabat Morocco on June 25 2025. (ISSAM ZERROK/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
Smith recently made an unexpected comeback into the music industry with the release of his first full-length album in two decades.
The controversial opened his two-month summer tour in July and will conclude it in September.
On this new album, meanwhile, Smith addresses the Oscars slap scandal directly with the lyrics:
“I heard he won the Oscar but he had to give it back/ And you know they only made him do that shit because he’s Black.”
To be clear and accurate, Smith did NOT have to return his Oscar.
Instead, the Academy banned him from attending any event related to the organization for 10 years.
Smith also resigned his Academy membership and issued an apology, saying that he was “deeply remorseful” for his actions.
You can view the original article HERE.
