The Will And Jada Smith Family Foundation is reportedly in the process of shutting down for good after the 2022 incident took a serious toll on the foundation's revenue.
- Mar 27, 2024
AceShowbiz - Will Smith's career and image were not the only things seriously affected by his Oscars fiasco. The actor and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's charity is reportedly closing down after losing donors in the wake of the 2022 incident.
The Will And Jada Smith Family Foundation, which was founded by the couple in 1996 to advocate for the issues that mattered to them, including health and wellness, arts education and sustainability, saw significant drop of revenue over the years since the Oscars slap. Tax records show that the foundation's revenue dropped from $1,760,000 in 2020 and $2,138,660 in 2021 to $365,870 in 2022.
Much of the lost revenue appears to have been due to major corporate donors opting not to contribute following Will's controversial behavior, in which he slapped presenter and comedian Chris Rock onstage, at the 2022 Academy Awards. Among the major donors opting to stop donating were American Airlines, which gave $76,160 for 2021, and the talent agency CAA, which donated $100,000 the same year.
A source, however, tells Variety that Will and Jada had been planning to wind down the foundation before the Oscars slap and are focusing more on giving the same amount to charitable causes, but as private individuals.
As evidence of the couple's plans to close the foundation, the source cited that the payment to two staff members in 2021 were decreased compared to the previous year, while there were no paid staff listed for 2022. The foundation also had a surprising $3,304 in bank overdraft fees, though it's unclear why that account would have been overdrawn.
Meanwhile, in 2022, the foundation gave to prominent organizations, including $100,000 to the American Film Institute and $2,500 to Big Brothers Big Sisters. The foundation also donated money to two significantly smaller organizations: Rebecoming and World Rebirth Foundation, which appeared to not be operating.
Rebecoming describes itself as being "dedicated to understanding and unlocking the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness through clinical research into the mechanism-of-action behind trauma release." The organization's website has not been updated since 2020, but it has filed taxes through 2022 and the Smiths' charity donated $15,000 that year via their charity.
As for World Rebirth Foundation Inc., it received $10,000 in 2022 from the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation. The organization's official website is not currently live, but it has an official Facebook page that was last updated in July 2023.
While their charity took a serious hit in the wake of Will's Oscars slap, his career seems to have weathered the storm of backlash. He has reunited with Martin Lawrence for "Bad Boys: Ride or Die" and is expected to return for "I Am Legend" sequel.
