Will Smith’s life hasn’t been the same since he won Best Actor at this year’s Oscars. Smith’s Q score plunged after he slapped Chris Rock after his joke about his wife’s baldness. The numbers show that this Academy Award winner’s Q score has dropped since the scandalous incident, but he wasn’t the only one whose score has fallen.
It only takes one moment in an actor’s career to make or break their reputation. According to Variety‘s Intelligence Platform from Q Scores, Smith’s numbers dropped after the infamous slap directed at Chris Rock. Will Smith was rated as one of the top 5 or 10 most positively rated actors in Q Scores’ semi-annual surveys, which are conducted in January and July.
This ranking placed him alongside well-known actors such as Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. However, following the Oscars, Smith’s positive Q score dropped from 39 to 24, implying that 24% of people consider the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star to be one of their favorite personalities. His negative rating increased from less than 10 to 26 with the average negative score being 16 or 17.
What is the Q Score?
Q Scores’ Variety Intelligence Platform quantifies celebrities’ star power and appeal. In these semi-annual surveys, 1,800 U.S. consumers aged 6 and up are polled. The higher the Q score in terms of positivity, the more highly regarded the person. The higher the negative Q score, on the other hand, the worse a person’s reputation may be.
Another person affected by their Q score was Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, whose public image has also worsened in recent months. Her already low positivity rating of 13 has now dropped to six, while her negativity rating has increased from 29 to 44.
Chris Rock, on the other hand, has seen no change in his rating since the Academy Awards slap. His positive and negative scores have been 20 and 14, respectively. His public awareness rating, on the other hand, increased from 66 to 84.
While Will Smith’s new score isn’t ideal for his career, it could be much worse. Tiger Woods’ positive Q score dropped from 44 to 14 after the 2009 infidelity scandal, according to The Golf Channel, while his negative score soared to 49.
Since that televised Oscar moment, the King Richard star has struggled. He resigned from the Academy, two of his upcoming films were postponed, and he was punished by the Academy by being barred from attending any Oscar events or programs for the next ten years.
He has since attempted to apologize for his wrongdoing. He issued a formal apology to Chris Rock the day after the incident and recently broke his silence with a video apology to Chris Rock for his actions. The standup comic is reportedly not yet ready to speak with the I, Robot star.
It’s difficult to say whether Smith’s Q scores have improved as it can take three years for a celebrity’s Q score to recover from a scandal. According to Henry Schafer, Executive VP of Q score, it depends on a celebrity’s personality and how they decide to resurrect their career.
His score could change depending on how he’s positioned in the promotion of his upcoming AppleTV film Emancipation, which is currently in post-production and could be released in 2023. It will be an interesting journey to see where Will Smith’s career will go.