Work on Bad Boys 4 has reportedly paused following Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the Oscars Ceremony. Before presenting the award for Best Documentary Feature, won by Questlove's Summer of Soul, Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, comparing her Oscars look to Demi Moore's GI Jane. While the crowd found the moment humorous, Smith did not after seeing his wife's reaction. The actor then walked up on stage during the live broadcast, slapped Rock in the face, and told the comedian, "Keep my wife's name out your f*cking mouth," twice.
Viewers were stunned that Smith was not escorted out of the Dolby Theatre after assaulting Rock, and many were put off by him being allowed to give a speech for winning the Best Actor Oscar less than an hour after the incident. Rock refused to press charges after being slapped, but The Academy did launch a formal investigation into the matter. The next day, Smith offered an apology to the Academy and Rock on social media and just recently announced his decision to resign from The Academy.
There have been many updates this past week regarding the infamous Oscars slap, and it now looks like Smith's actions are starting to negatively affect his future projects. THR reports that work on Bad Boys 4 has halted as a result of Smith's altercation with Rock at the Oscars. This news comes on the same day as Smith's Academy resignation, so it's unknown if that decision will help get the movie going again.
Bad Boys for Life was released 17 years after Bad Boys 2. The film received generally positive reviews, and thanks to it coming out before the start of COVID-19, Bad Boys for Life also became one of the highest-grossing movies in 2020. Shortly after the film's release, Bad Boys 4 was confirmed to be in development by Sony. The last big update given was in May 2020, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirming the script was being written. Since then, it seems like significant progress has been made, with THR's above report also indicating Smith had been given 40 pages of the Bad Boys 4 script to read.
Even though Rock's joke was in poor taste, considering Pinkett Smith's struggle with alopecia, most would agree that Smith physically harming Rock was not the best course of action. There was always the possibility of the outburst affecting Smith's career, but until now, there hadn't been any word on his future projects being in jeopardy. That being said, it's very possible that development on Bad Boys 4 will continue now that Smith has faced some sort of consequence.
Source: THR