After the 2022 Oscars slap, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's media firm, Westbrook, has struggled to obtain big projects and investors.
Since the event in March 2022, Westbrook has failed to obtain large partnerships with the streamers and other entertainment companies, requiring it to make harsh cutbacks, according to Semafor.
Westbrook laid off half its staff last year after revenue dropped to $100 million, according to Semafor.
Several Westbrook partners reportedly terminated their contracts. After Meta removed Jada's Emmy-winning Red Table Talk from Facebook Watch, the Smiths are seeking for a new home.
Semafor says that Westbrook has scaled back its ambitious goals after the Oscar smack.
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One source stated Fubo TV, a niche streaming network, showed the most interest, but the product remained shelved. A Westbrook official informed Semafor that the program had two distributor offers and is in talks with more.
According to the site, the Smiths and Westbrook's CEO and co-founder, Kosaku Yada, originally rejected colleagues' worries about Smith's attack on Rock's commercial impact. Yada, according to two sources, claimed the star's image will recover swiftly. As sales slowed, Yada and other corporate officials agreed that they shouldn't bargain for fresh investment from a position of weakness.
Jada called Will's Oscar slap a “holy” moment after originally thinking it was a joke.
Jada told the Daily Mail that Will hitting Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars “saved my marriage.”
“That moment of the s-it hitting the fan is when you see where you really are,” she told Just Jared. “After years of wondering if I would leave Will, that slap made me realize I would never leave him. Who knows where our relationship would be without that?”
“I call it the ‘holy slap’ now because so many positive things came after it,” the actress said.
“We’ve been together 30 years, so even if someone new comes along, neither of us is away,” she remarked. “We will always be a family that protects each other. Crisis sometimes reveals that.”