Will Smith has had a tumultuous year since his slapgate incident at last year's Academy Awards ceremony. Smith famously slapped comedian Chris Rock after the presenter made comments about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The comments were in poor taste and honestly, I think every woman sided with Smith on this one, even if secretly. A man who comes to the defense of his woman is always alright in our book.
As a result of his actions, Smith was banned from the Oscars for ten years, which of course only managed to make the ceremony even more white than it has been, despite efforts by the Academy to turn the broadcast into a "3 hour+ civics lesson" as Steven Gaydos of Variety recently wrote.
More recently, rumors have surfaced about Smith having been romantically involved with his 2015 project Focus co-star Margo Robbie, as well as Smith himself having expressed his outrage at the Netflix special Chris Rock: Selective Outrage which revisits the slap. It seems Rock is using the material to make people laugh and further his career.
Life hasn't been easy for the Fresh Prince these days. But a lovely trip to gorgeous AlUla was bound to change all that!
Visiting Saudi Arabia for the first time, the Hollywood heavyweight and intrepid traveller took some time out to visit Hegra, the UNESCO World Heritage Site and FAME: Andy Warhol in AlUla, the current exhibition featured at the mirrored arts building Maraya. AlUla has been on a mission to turn the heritage site into a filming location, as well as a concert venue, slash fashion hub, attracting celebrities from Alicia Keys, to Andrea Bocelli and even hosted a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show in January of 2022.
Smith then watched the dramatic final-day action at the four-day AlUla Camel Cup in the company of celebrity friend and music producer Swizz Beatz. Swizz Beatz is the first American to own a camel racing team in Saudi Arabia, and he has been keeping a keen eye on camels from his Saudi Bronx team in action at the AlUla Camel Racing Venue. The state-of-the-art venue also hosted Saudi Bronx pop-up store in the Heritage Village, Swizz presented Smith with one of the t-shirts on sale to spectators.
The AlUla Camel Cup, the pinnacle of camel racing, was organized by the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) as part of the AlUla Moments calendar in collaboration with the Saudi Camel Racing Federation (SCRF).
For more information, visit www.experiencealula.com
