Will Smith Humiliated As First Album In 20 Years 'Flops' In The Wake of The Chris Rock Oscars Slap Scandal

Will Smith's new album, "Based On A True Story" - his first in 20 years - has been a commercial failure.

via: Daily Mail

Last month, the actor and rapper, 56, released his latest record Based On A True Story, but despite his superstar status, the album only sold 268 copies in its first week in the UK.

While it is said to have only been downloaded 36 times, according to The Sun.  

And things didn't fare better across the pond as the LP failed to make it onto the Billboard 200 in the US reports Forbes - the first time one of his solo albums has not charted.

Based On A True Story is Will's first album since 2005's Lost And Found, and despite big name collaborators including Big Sean, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Teyana Taylor and his own son Jaden, it has failed to make any commercial impact.

Reports suggest that the album was hoped to be a start of a music resurgence for Will in the wake of his controversial Chris Rock Oscars slap in 2022 - the move that seriously tarnished his career.

The incident occurred following a joke Chris made about Will's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's bald head, amid her battle with alopecia,

It prompted Will to make his way to the stage, slap Chris and shout 'keep my wife's name out of your f****** mouth.'

In the wake of the slap, the film star - who won his very first Oscar on the night - was banned from the Academy Awards for ten years.

The development of his film Fast and Loose was also put on hold by Netflix.

While his reported £28 million role in slavery epic Emancipation failed to make an impact at the box office in 2022, leaving his movie career somewhat in the wilderness.

Will's new 14-track album features tracks including Beautiful Scars (with Big Sean), Work of Art (with Jaden Smith) and Hard Times (with Teyana Taylor) - the latter of which he was plugging on Instagram only on Friday.

MailOnline have contacted representatives of Will for comment.

The former Fresh Prince of Bel Air star has in the past enjoyed commercial success with his musical offerings, with his first four solo albums - Big Willie Style (1997), Willennium (1999), Born to Reign (2002), Lost and Found (2005) - all making it on to the Billboard 200.

Despite his disappointing album sales, Will is reportedly set to release a further two albums this year.

While the Men In Black hitmaker is ploughing ahead with his 'first ever' headline tour and will see the actor visit a host of venues up and down the UK and Europe.

These live shows will see him performing songs from the new album along with his classic hits including Jiggy Wit It, Miami, Summertime and more.

But, some fans are shocked to discover that most of the UK venues have a capacity of less than 5,000, which seems small compared to the actor's huge level of fame.

The locations include the likes of Scarborough and Wolverhampton, but skip out bigger cities like Birmingham, Glasgow and Dublin.

Ahead of his solo tour, he is set to perform at multiple international festivals, including Mawazine in Morocco, POSITIV Festival in France, Dreambeach in Spain and BIG ART Festival in Italy.

Announcing the news of his tour last month, Will wrote on Instagram: I'M GOING ON TOUR THIS SUMMER!!

'We're hitting up UK & Europe to bring U all the hits, some new joints, and a few surprises ;-) All these years, I've NEVER done a headline tour and I can't wait to see you guys!!'

Fans rushed to the comments to quip: 'Life is complete!!!! Been a fan since the fresh prince days !!!!!!! Omg' and 'I'm excited, I can't wait'.

Smith gained recognition in American hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince who released Grammy-winning single Parents Just Don't Understand.

In the Nineties, he starred in the hit sitcom The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air about a fictionalised version of himself, born and raised in West Philadelphia, who is sent to live with his wealthy uncle in Los Angeles.

His debut solo album, Big Willie Smith, was released in 1997 and included the hit song Men In Black, which accompanied the film of the same name and peaked at number one in the UK singles chart.

Across his career, Smith has starred in dozens of films including The Pursuit Of Happyness (2006), I Am Legend (2007), and Suicide Squad (2016).

In January, he released track Beautiful Scars, featuring rapper Big Sean, as well as a music video where they re-enacted a scene from 1999 science fiction film The Matrix.