Will Smith Recalled A Vision Of His Career Being Ruined To David Letterman Before Oscars Slap

Will Smith had admitted to having a vision of his career being "destroyed" during an interview taped before the 2022 Oscars ceremony where he slapped Chris Rock.

BYCole Blake
Link Copied to Clipboard!
12.4K Views
Kevin Winter / Getty Images

Will Smith spoke at length about a vision he had of his career being ruined while appearing on the new season of David Letterman’s Netflix show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. The interview was taped prior to his infamous slapping of Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars ceremony.

Smith explained to Letterman that despite not being into drugs, there had been a two year period where he had gotten into ayahuasca and took 14 “journeys.” He described the one in question as the “most hellish psychological experience of my life.”

Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images

“I drank, and it usually takes about 45 minutes to kick in,” Smith told the legendary talk show host. “And I’m sitting there and you always feel like, ‘Maybe it won’t kick in this time.’ So I’m drinking and sitting there and then all of a sudden it’s like I start seeing all of my money flying away, and my house is flying away and my career is going away.”

"My whole life is getting destroyed," he added.

As the vision went on, he says he heard his daughter Willow calling out for help, at which point he stopped caring about anything else: “Then slowly, I stopped caring about my money, I just wanted to get to Willow. I stopped caring about my house, I stopped caring about my career.”

Smith said that the experience, while frightening, helped him gain a new perspective on life.

He continued: "This is my fear in real life, and I’m in there and I’m wanting to vomit and all of that, and I hear a voice saying: 'This is what the f**k it is. This is what the f**k life is.'"

Smith's interview on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction is available on Netflix.

[Via]


  • Link Copied to Clipboard!
About The Author
Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.