My Reaction: Has Will Smith been cancelled?

I’m a “former fan”
who first fell in love with him
in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,
who danced with her two left feet
to “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”,
who fell in love with him even more
in heartfelt films such as “Seven Pounds”
and “The Pursuit of Happyness“,
who found him charming and charismatic
in interviews,
who was taken aback when he became
the first A-list Hollywood celebrity who
graced the Social Media sphere back
in the day —

— why, hello, YouTube! Now you’re
flooded with Hollywood-ish Content Creators,
thanks to Will Smith!

who never gave a big “F” about his
personal life —
“do what you gotta do behind the curtain, dude!”
who always thought of him as one of the most
sparkling personalities who had ever lived,
who always had a kick out of his riotous core,
who was enamoured by his exuberant
speaking voice,
who —

yes, I was all that.
there were times when I would sense
arrogance and ego bubbling around
but who was I to judge?

he’s human, his name has weight
he’s a creative genius, he’s supposed
to wallow in madness
he cannot be boring
boring is synonymous with death
in the entertainment world after all

he has to entertain
he feels the need to entertain
it’s squirming in his bones
that’s how his blood circulates
that’s what “made” him
Will Smith

until the big slap!
on “the biggest world stage”
it felt like a betrayal
my heart shrank
my “imaginary relationship”
with him ended at the exact
moment

Will Smith suddenly disappeared
without warning
without a proper goodbye
without a piece of appreciation
to leave behind

from then on,
I couldn’t look at him
the same way anymore,
I would even cringe
each time I would hear
his name,

there was something
“unforgiving” about
that slap!
it was as if he showed me
as a fan what his heartbeat
truly sounded like,
what his soul was made of!

like I said,
I could care less about
his personal life
or what he was doing
behind the curtain —

but when his “humanity”
floated out of his
conscience —
that was another story

be famous
be outrageous
be enraged
be yourself

just don’t be a d*ck
when you know
the rest of the world
is watching their
heroes being honoured
for being “extraordinary”