Celebs Who Have Clashed With The Smith Family

It's impossible to measure who's the most likable family in Hollywood. All we know for sure is that it isn't the Kardashians. But with their critically acclaimed creative projects and circle of famous friends, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's brood might be in the running.

It all starts with Will's megawatt movie stardom. He describes how he became the biggest movie star in the world in his memoir, "Will." A hefty chunk of his success comes down to his talent and charm, as anyone who's watched "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" can attest. But what really put him over the edge in terms of career success was his strategy: he decided to monitor the press activity of the biggest movie star in the world, Tom Cruise, and do two hours more promotion than Cruise did every day (via Insider).

There's nothing wrong with a little friendly rivalry, and the strategy worked. Will now holds the world record for most consecutive box office hits grossing more than $100 million (he had eight in a row), per The Guardian. But his strategy of competing with Cruise — even if Cruise didn't know it — proves something: the Smiths aren't afraid of conflict. Although the whole family is in the business of being liked, Will and Jada, along with their kids Willow Smith and Jaden Smith, aren't afraid to clash with their peers. And they might even tell you all about it on Jada and Willow's successful Facebook show "Red Table Talk" afterward.

Actor Tessa Thompson credits Will Smith with breaking new ground for Black actors in Hollywood. "​​We take it for granted now, but when Will Smith was in [Men in Black], it was hugely impactful in terms of what it told Hollywood at that time for a young Black man to bring his identity to a studio film," Thompson said at a 2019 BUILD Series talk. She added, "I'm not sure that I would have known that I could do what I do if Will Smith hadn't been on television every week in 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' or in this film originally."

But other young Black show business luminaries think he could be doing more. Lena Waithe directed the thriller "Queen & Slim" in 2019. She noted that Brad Pitt's production company funded the critical Black-led films "12 Years a Slave" and "Moonlight." "Wasn't Denzel. Wasn't Will Smith," she told The New York Times. "You won't catch me making $20 million a movie and not paying for at least four or five independent movies a year."

Smith hasn't responded to the critique. He does have his own production company under the umbrella of Westbrook Inc., but he's often used it to make films starring himself. Waithe went on to attract some criticism of her own after fans accused her of gratuitous violence befalling Black characters in "Queen & Slim" and later the Amazon series "Them," which Waithe produced, per Slate.

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's Oscars boycott remained a topic of conversation up to and including the night of the 2016 Academy Awards. That year's host, Chris Rock, targeted the couple with a few funny jabs about their decision not to attend, but Rock still supported the important movement for representation at the Oscars.

He seemed to agree with the Smiths' complaints that the nominations weren't diverse enough, calling the Academy Awards "the white people's choice awards" (via Entertainment Tonight). Then, he turned his attention to Jada. "Isn't she on a TV show?" he said. The Oscars do not give awards for television. Then came the punchline: "Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna's panties. I wasn't invited!"

Rock continued on to say that he understands it was "not fair" that Will wasn't nominated for his film that year, "Concussion," adding, "It's also not fair that Will was paid $20 million for 'Wild Wild West.'" Rock was referring to Will's critically panned 1999 film, which famed reviewer Roger Ebert called "​​a comedy dead zone."

Will Smith once again became a magnet for controversy during summer 2020, when Black Lives Matter protests dominated the news. JR Smith, a former professional basketball player, took Will to task via Instagram for not getting involved early in the summer (archived on YouTube). "Where the f*** is Oprah? Where the f*** is Will Smith?" he said. "Y'all are not saying nothing. You are not giving us no words of encouragement. No nothing." JR, for his part, was vocal about the protests early on and even agreed to pay a police bill sent to an activist in New Jersey.

Of course, Will might have had other things on his mind: summer 2020 was when Jada Pinkett Smith's infamous extramarital "entanglement" with August Alsina first became public, and the Smiths were in damage-control mode. But he still became involved later on in the summer, throwing his full weight behind the Black Lives Matter movement and speaking up about his own alleged experience with racist cops, which he discussed with political commentator Angela Rye.

On "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," Will Smith clashed with co-star Janet Hubert, who played his character's Aunt Viv from 1990 to 1993. Many believed their personal issues led Hubert to get the boot after the show's third season. "I can say straight up that Janet Hubert wanted the show to be The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air Show because I know she is going to dog me in the press," Smith allegedly told an Atlanta radio station at the time (via The Sun). "No matter what, to her I'm just the Antichrist," he added.

Hubert didn't correct him. Instead, their public beef continued. The actor maintained that she wanted the cast to bargain for higher salaries together on "The Fresh Prince," but Smith wasn't into it. Hubert even weighed in on the Smiths' 2016 Oscars boycott. "...you're talking about boycotting just because you didn't get a nomination, just because you didn't win?" she said in a now deleted video. She also said, "​​You ain't Barack and Michelle Obama. And y'all need to get over yourselves" (per The Hollywood Reporter, via CNN).

But in 2020, HBO Max aired a reunion special commemorating "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," leading Smith and Hubert to finally bury the hatchet (as replayed on "Red Table Talk"). Hubert opened up about the personal struggles that prompted her to leave the show. "The person I want to be is someone who protects you," Smith replied, "not someone that unleashes dogs on you."

Gabrielle Union and Jada Pinkett Smith had parallel acting careers and often ran into each other at events. But Smith always noticed an awkward vibe. "​​She and I did not talk for 17 years and we could not remember why," Smith told Essence. "There was just tension between us every time we would see each other. There was some moment that we had that just left a bad taste in both of our mouths."

Smith called Union to clear the air, but she explained to Essence, "When we got on the phone to try to figure out what it was we could not figure it out!" She concluded, "It was just us being young, divas." Smith invited Union onto "Red Table Talk" to hash it out. "I had to just apologize, and just thinking to myself, 'Damn, Jada! That was some petty-ass sh*t," Smith told Union on the show. "But, at the same time going, 'Well, that's where you were then. Thank God you're someplace else now.'"

Union later appeared on "Today" and said, "​​Even though we're both very outspoken women, we're both activists, our husbands are friends... we both felt we had too much pride and too much insecurities to just say, 'Hey, did that ever actually happen or was that a creation of someone else who did not want to see two women rise together?'" The two women are now friends.