Will Smithand Jada Pinkett Smith are shutting down their charitable foundation due, at least partly, to fallout from Will’s infamous Oscars slap.
The A-list spouses are closing the Will And Jada Smith Family Foundation amid a significant drop off in donations, according to Variety … which says the foundation’s tax filings show major donors — like CAA and American Airlines — bailed after Will slapped Chris Rock during the 2022 Academy Awards.
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Apparently, the foundation went from bringing in over $2 million in 2021 to less than $400K in 2022.
The shutdown might not be solely due to Will’s incident … Variety says the Smiths were planning on ending the foundation before the Oscars drama because they wanted to focus on making private charitable donations.
Also noteworthy are some eyebrow-raising financial transactions for the foundation … it reportedly had $3,000 in bank overdraft fees, over $25K donated to seemingly defunct mental health organizations and no paid staffers as of 2022.
Interestingly, as the foundation’s shuttering … Will’s career seems to have weathered the storm of backlash. He currently has at least 4 active projects in pre-production, including the highly-anticipated “I Am Legend” sequel, and he’s reunited with Martin Lawrence for the fourth ‘Bad Boys’ film, which comes out this summer.
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As for the Smiths, personally — last year, while promoting her memoir, Jada said she and Will were on a path to reconciliation following years of leading separate lives, and even living in separate homes.
Sooo … bad news, good news?
