"He was never a very good rapper" — Internet divided over Will Smith seemingly referencing Chris Rock slapping incident in his new freestyle

Months after dropping his album Based On A True Story in March 2025, Will Smith recently displayed his freestyle skills on Charlie Sloth’s Fire in the Booth, wherein he reportedly took a dig at comedian Chris Rock.

In his freestyle verse, Smith raps:

"If you talking crazy out your face up on the stage and disrespect me on the stage, expect me on the stage/ Jokers dish it out, cry out when it’s time to take it, City full of real ones wasn’t raised to fake it.”

Multiple sources and fans of the actor speculate that Will Smith's freestyle verse refers to the 2022 Academy Awards incident, wherein he slapped Chris Rock for joking about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's, shaved head.

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At the time, Will walked onto the stage, slapped Chris Rock, and furiously said, "Keep my wife’s name out your f*cking mouth!”

Nerizens quickly took to X to comment on Will's alleged nod to the 2022 incident involving Chris Rock, wherein an X user seemed unimpressed with the actor's rapping skills, tweeting:

"He was never a very good rapper." "I love Will Smith but his rapping is NOT good lol" an X user commented "Not one person in the world asked for Will Smith to start pg13 rapping again" another X user mentioned "He needs to stop rapping. Go back to making movies 😬 "an internet user stated "The funniest part is you can tell it's the worse rap Charlie Sloth has heard on Fire in the Booth so far, and yet he sarcastically plays along and hypes Will up! 🤣🤦‍♂️" another internet user said

On the other hand, fans of the Men In Black actor praised his rapping skills and return to the music industry:

"I really like this version of Will. I hope he keeps going." an X user tweeted "Will Smith is on the top 10 hottest rapper list rn. Debate with a wall" a netizen remarked "Don't forget he's a rapper first that what open doors for him and he still spitting 🔥 with no curse 🤬 words" another netizen expressed

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Will Smith reflects on the aftermath of the 2022 slapping incident involving Chris Rock

Will Smith recently made an appearance on BBC Radio 1Xtra for an interview with Remi Burgz, wherein he reflected on the 2022 altercation between him and comedian Chris Rock.

The actor and rapper told Burgz that he "shut it down for a minute" after the Oscars and indulged in internal work, adding that the last few years have been deeply reflective for him.

"For the first time in my career, (I was) having to deal with a level of disapproval that I never had to experience. The addiction to the approval of others that I had to dissolve, it was brutal.” Will recalled.

For the unversed, the aftermath of slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars resulted in a huge PR crisis and the imposition of a 10-year ban on Will Smith from participating in the Academy Awards ceremonies. It also impacted his public image, following which Will resigned from the Academy.

During his BBC Radio 1Xtra interview, Will mentioned that the incident caused him to look deeper into himself. He said that it was like a manhole cover over unexplored areas, and when the manhole cover came off, "it was scary for a minute what was in there.”

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Will Smith recently released a new track called Pretty Girls on June 13, 2025. The actor and rapper has been dropping new projects following the release of his album Based on a True Story, which was his first project in 20 years.

Edited by Prem Deshpande