How White Media Outlets Threw Shade at Will Smith Ahead of His Successful ‘Bad Boys 4’ Opening Weekend

“Bad Boys: Ride or Die” might be the savior of the summer box office. The Will Smith and Martin Lawrence-starring film came in at number one this weekend, surpassing expectations and reviving the startlingly sleepy start to the summer movie season with a global $104.6 million opening weekend, per Entertainment Weekly.

But “Ride or Die” came with a familiar tone in the media coverage — namely, mainstream (white) outlets which have focused on the film being Smith’s first true comeback since his 2022 “The Slap” Oscars controversy.

Ahead of the film’s premiere, several outlets reported on its chances of succeeding at the box office, centering “The Slap” as a possible deterrent for audiences.

Variety posed this question in a story last week: “As ‘Bad Boys 4’ Hits Box Office, Are Moviegoers Ready to Embrace Will Smith After Oscars Slap?” The Hollywood Reporter ran the story, “How ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ May Remind Viewers of Will Smith’s Oscars Slap” which focused almost entirely on one scene from the new film.

The tenor of most of these articles — and coverage of the film at large — has been less optimistic and more concerning and cautious, especially compared to other releases this year, including white actor-led recent box office disappointments like the Mad Max film “Furiosa” and the romantic comedy “The Fall Guy.”

They’re examples of how, at best, white media wants to focus on the wrong topics, and, at worse, how it wants to constantly remind people of the negative mistakes of a successful Black man.

For Black folks, however, the success of “Ride or Die” is no shock at all.

Journalist Daric L. Cottingham wrote in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), “The Bad Boys movies always do well. Honestly, it’s only a shocker to folks who thought Will’s time was up over the slap and just straight disregard for how Black consumers would show up for Will & Martin.”

Reuters editor Kat Stafford also commented on the media coverage of the film: “The media coverage of Bad Boys 4 is revealing a lot of things about said industry.”

Others on social media are crediting the film’s traditional press rollout for its success, including prioritization of Black outlets and proper in-person appearances from both Smith and Lawrence. Candice Marie Benbow wrote, “This Bad Boys press run prioritized Black media and Black spaces and I love Martin and Will for that.”

“Ride or Die’s” killer weekend proved two things: you can’t quite predict what people will do with their hard-earned money and don’t ever count out or underestimate the Black audience by attempting to predict what they may or may not deem “acceptable.”

“The Slap” controversy dominated the news cycle for so long, it may have become far too easy to overestimate its impact. But if these box office numbers tell us anything, it’s that Smith’s star-power and box-office draw have not gone anywhere.