Will Smith looked out over his kingdom… finally sitting on his throne as Prince at the BET Awards.
Smith returned to his rap roots and debuted a new song live at the 2024 awards ceremony, hosted by Taraji P. Henson. Smith performed his new song, “Dance in Your Darkest Moments,” as a response to the controversial Oscar slap that temporarily sent his career into a tailspin.
Kevin Winter/Getty
Apply Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter gives you breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Performing inside a clearly symbolic ring of fire, Smith passionately rapped about getting through and coming out of tough times. He was joined onstage by gospel group Sunday Service and gospel legend Kirk Franklin. “Dance in Your Darkest Moments” could be the title track from Smith’s new album.
After his surprise performance with J Balvin at Coachella in April, Smith posted a video with the hashtag “#DanceInYourDarkestMoments.”
Smith recently returned to music with his Sean Paul collaboration “Right ‘Em Up” and is starring in his latest film, Bad Boys: Ride or DieThe song is his first release in about five years since his guest appearance on Joyner Lucas’ “Will (Remix)” in 2020.
On the other hand, the fourth Bad Boys The series added a much-anticipated blockbuster to the summer box office, debuting with $56 million and grossing nearly $300 million worldwide since its release earlier this month.
The Oscar winner was joined by fellow performers Glorilla, Ice Spice, Ratt, Ms. Lauryn Hill, YG Marley, Muni Long, Sexy Red, Shaboozie, Tyra and Victoria Monet at the annual awards ceremony, which celebrates the best of black culture.
This was one of Smith’s first awards show appearances since slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, an incident that led to Smith being banned from performing at the Oscars for 10 years. However, Smith received a warm welcome at the BET Awards and a standing ovation after his performance.