Will Smith slammed over shocking treatment of crew on new music video

Daily Mail​

23-05-2025

Will Smith is getting blasted on social media and facing a picket as he is shooting a non-union music video in Los Angeles.
The 56-year-old entertainer - whose most recent album flopped - is facing a protest by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees at Quixote Studios in West Hollywood on Friday according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Business manager of IATSE Local 80 Dejon Ellis said that the union had asked producers to recognize the union and pay for pension and health benefits on Thursday but the producers had refused.
Will - who has courted controversy in recent years - showed up to the shoot in the morning as IATSE were setting up the picket line.
The A-lister was blasted on The THR X (formally Twitter) post about the story as one referenced his infamous slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars as they wrote: 'Way worse than the slap.'
'Will Smith is a clown,' one said while another posted: 'Will Smith is a #SCAB.'
Will Smith (pictured in Saudi Arabia back in November 2023) is getting blasted on social media and facing a picket as he is shooting a non-union music video in Los Angeles
Another questioned if he would be able to continue with his acting union The Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) after the move.
One commented: 'Can't he be kicked out of SAG for using non-union work?'
The social media user is calling into question whether or not Will is breaking SAG-AFTRA's Global Rule One.
It states: ' No member shall render any services or make an agreement to perform services for any employer who has not executed a basic minimum agreement with the union, which is in full force and effect, in any jurisdiction in which there is a SAG-AFTRA national collective bargaining agreement in place. This provision applies worldwide.'
Regardless, according to IATSE Local 80 business manager Ellis about 20 crew members were fired on Thursday after the union had requested recognition.
Meanwhile, the president of the production company Breathe Entertainment Stephen Trivieri said in an email to THR that it was 10 crew members and that they decided not to show up Friday at the insistence of the union.
Ellis retorted by denying that the union had pulled those crewmembers and reiterated that it was the production company who told them not to come in.
He said: 'Firing the crew is what picked this up a notch. That was not cool.'
Will (who is seen with wife Jada Pinkett Smith in March 2022) showed up to the shoot in the morning as IATSE were setting up the picket line
Trivieri stood firm as he said it was made clear at the outset that it would be a non-union shoot as he said: 'While this music video features a globally recognized artist, it was independently financed and produced outside the scope of major studio or label backing.
'Like many artist-driven creative projects, this shoot was built around a clear non-union structure with transparent terms and fair compensation across all departments.'
This comes three years after Will famously slapped comedian Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards in March 2022.
Rock was presenting the Oscar for Best Documentary during the event at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood when he joked about Will's wife Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head.
He compared her to the shaved head look of Demi Moore in the 1997 movie G.I. Jane.
Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia and did not laugh at the joke.
Smith then approached the stage and slapped Rock hard across the face with his right hand.
'Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me,' Rock said from the stage after being hit.
Smith returned to his seat next to his wife after the outburst and yelled at the comic.
'Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth!,' Smith twice shouted at a shocked Rock.
Smith later won the Oscar for Best Actor for his work in King Richard after the incident.
'I want to apologize to the Academy. I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. This is a beautiful moment and I'm not crying for winning an award. It's not about winning an award for me. It's about being able to shine a light on all of the people,' Smith said during his acceptance speech.