'Butt of the joke': Will Smith's 'Ali' co-star Paul Rodriguez accuses superstar of on-set bullying
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A year has passed and the Oscars 2023 is here, but the controversy regarding Will Smith is not subsiding anytime soon. Recently, Paul Rodriguez, Smith’s co-star in the 2001 biopic film ‘Ali’, opened up about how he “was bullied by Will Smith” on the film's set.
Rodriguez said that Smith, who is already embroiled in controversy for hitting Chris Rock in last year's Awards, made his life miserable on the sets of the hit film ‘Ali’ as he was always made the butt of the joke. "Look, I get no joy out of him going through this but maybe he’ll have a lot of compassion for what he put me through because it’s a horrible thing to be the butt of the joke”.
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Talking about the effects of Smith’s bullying, he adds, "After he made me the butt of all his jokes and nasty remarks on Ali, people didn’t want to hang out with me no more, it was like the word got out and I had leprosy all of a sudden”.
In an interview with The U.S. Sun, he further said, "That movie was meant to be one of the biggest and most wonderful breaks in my career but he made it a nightmare [...] and it all went downhill from, there: I was dropped by my management company and I couldn’t get an agent worth a damn”.
However, he made his stance on the global superstar clear, as he said, "Even though everything he put me through, I feel sorry for Will Smith; the price he’s going to have to pay is almost bigger than the crime”, before adding, "It's hard for me to find any kind of animosity towards him because I know the feeling of what he's going through and if someone's bound to this kind of ostracism you can have compassion, and I do."
Commenting on how the infamous slap will still be a talking point this year, "I think the ratings are gonna be higher, just in the expectation that somebody else is going to do something to become of history in a negative way [...] but I'm sure the host and plenty of other people will be making jokes about Will throughout” and added "I think it might be time for, after this [Oscars], to have a truce. There are only so [many] slap jokes you can make”.
Who is Paul Rodriguez?
Paul Rodriguez is a Mexican-American actor mostly known for his role as Dr Ferdie Pacheco in the 2001 film ‘Ali’ where he played Will Smith’s personal physician and cornerman role. He has also appeared in films like ‘D.C. Cab’, ‘A Cinderella Story’ and ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog’. In 2009, Rodriguez released the stand-up ‘Comedy Special Paul Rodriguez: Comedy Rehab’. In 2011, ‘Paul Rodriguez: Just for the Record’, was released, which documents a live performance. He has also acted as a voice artist for many animation films including 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua' and 'El Americano: The Movie'.
Is Will Smith attending the Oscars 2023?
Yesteryear's victor of the 'Best Actor' Award, Will Smith will not be seen in this year's award function. Following his slap to last year's presenter Chris Rock after the comedian made a remark about the actor's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, the best actor for 'King Richard' has been banned by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences from attending any of their events for next 10 years. Following the now-infamous incident, many of Smith's ongoing projects were either shelved or axed. Smith has not been nominated in any category this year.
