Thursday, March 28, 2024

Will Smith Responds to ‘Jada & August Alsina’s Affair’ + Apple Lands His Slavery Movie ‘Emancipation’

will smith

*Will Smith‘s rep has responded to reports that he gave singer August Alsina a “blessing” to have an affair with his wife Jada Pinkett Smith

“I actually sat down with Will and had a conversation. Due to the transformation from their marriage to [a] life partnership that they spoken on several times, and not involving romanticism, he gave me his blessing,” August said in an interview with Angela Yee. 

Will‘s rep told The Sun that this report is “wrong.” Jada‘s rep previously released a statement that the claims are “absolutely not true.”

Meanwhile, Smith’s ‘Emancipation’ film about slavery has landed at Apple Original Films after a massive bidding war.

Warner Bros, Apple, MGM, Lionsgate and Universal were reportedly battling it out at the virtual Cannes Film Festival over the world rights to the film. 

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, “Emancipation” stars Will Smith as a real-life historical figure named Peter, who was a “runaway slave forced to outwit cold-blooded hunters and the unforgiving swamps of Louisiana on a tortuous journey North where he joined the Union Army,” per Deadline

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: August Alsina Confirms Past Romance with Jada Pinkett Smith, Claims Will ‘Gave Me His Blessing’ [VIDEO]

Apple bought the project for $105 million, outbidding seven other entities, according to the LA Times:

Here’s more from the outlet: 

The period drama, based on a script by William N. Collage, will star Smith as Peter, a fugitive from slavery on a harrowing journey north from Louisiana. The character is modeled after Gordon, or “Whipped Peter,” an enslaved person who emancipated himself from a Southern plantation and joined the Union Army.

In 1863, photos taken of Gordon during an Army medical examination appeared in the Independent and in the July 4 issue of Harper’s Weekly. Known as “The Scourged Back,” one image shows Gordon’s bare back, mutilated by a whipping delivered on the plantation of enslavers John and Bridget Lyons.

The widely shared portrait served as photographic evidence of the cruelty and inhumanity of slavery in America, further fueling the abolitionist movement.

Fuqua noted that the photograph was “the first viral image of the brutality of slavery that the world saw,” which is interesting, when you put it into perspective with today and social media and what the world is seeing, again. You can’t fix the past, but you can remind people of the past and I think we have to, in an accurate, real way. We all have to look for a brighter future for us all, for everyone. That’s one of the most important reasons to do things right now, is show our history. We have to face our truth before we can move forward.”

Peep the infamous photo via the Twitter embed above.

The film will channel that historical background to take viewers on thrill ride with Peter as he escapes his captors. 

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