- Will Smith told David Letterman about the “hellish psychological experience” of his life.
- While in Peru he was drinking ayahuasca and had a vision that he was losing his money, home and career.
- Smith said the experience made him realize that “anything that happens in my life, I can handle it”.
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Will Smith spoke about his fear of losing his money and career in an interview with David Letterman taped ahead of the controversial 2022 Oscars.
The ‘King Richard’ star opened up about his life and career in an episode of ‘My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman’ as part of the fourth season of the Netflix series, which released on Friday.
The episode was prefaced with a title card that read, “The episode was taped before the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony.”
During his interview, Smith spoke about how he’s at the top of his career thanks to a string of successful films, but still feels dissatisfied.
“I felt very confident that #1 movies were much more of an addiction than a fulfilling emotional endeavor,” he said. “I correlated being the best with having the love in my life that would make me feel safe.”
Because of this, Smith said he stopped working for two years.
During this time he went to Peru and drank ayahuasca, a mind-altering medicine. Smith said he made “14 trips” after consuming ayahuasca, and one particular incident forced him to face his fear of losing everything.
“One of those experiences was the most personally hellish psychological experience of my life,” he said.
“I’m drinking, I’m sitting there and then all of a sudden it’s like I see all my money fly away and my house fly away and my career is over,” Smith recalled of the vision. “And I’m trying to reach for my money and my career. My whole life will be destroyed.”
Will Smith appears in the fourth season of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman. Ser Baffo/Netflix
“So this is your fear in real life?” asked the postman.
“My concern,” Smith confirmed. “I’m in there and I want to throw up and all that. And I hear a voice saying, ‘That’s what the hell it is. That’s what the fuck life is shit.'”
The actor said he started hearing his daughter Willow Smith screaming, “Daddy, help me! daddy! How come you don’t help me?”
“And I’m like, ‘I don’t see you, baby,'” Smith said. “The shaman says, ‘Relax, relax, relax.’ And she tells me, ‘Sit up.’ Then I slowly stopped caring about my money, I just wanted to see Willow, I stopped caring about my house and my career.
He continued, “And I get to the point where I’ve settled down and the voice is still at 100%, I can still hear Willow screaming. My money still flies away, but I’m leaving [exhales] and I’m totally calm, even though all hell is breaking loose in my head.”
Smith said the psychological journey made him realize that “anything that happens in my life, I can handle it.”
“I can deal with any person that I lose, I can deal with anything that goes wrong in my life, I can deal with anything in my marriage, I can deal with anything this life has to offer me,” he said he.
“It’s part of the psychological training that takes place in ayahuasca. First, 99% of the shit you worry about never happens,” he continued, “99% of your pain and misery is all self-generated. It’s not real. “
Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars. Reuters
Smith’s comments on Letterman were made ahead of the Oscars.
At the ceremony, the actor took to the stage and slapped host Chris Rock after the comedian made a sickening joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s baldness.
After the attack, The Academy initiated a formal investigation into Smith’s slapping of Rock.
On April 1, Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A week later, the Academy announced that Smith would be banned from the Oscars for 10 years for beating Rock on Air.
In an open letter to insiders, the academy said Smith was prohibited from “attending any academy event or program, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards.”
Since then, several of Smith’s projects have reportedly been put on hold, although it’s unclear whether they were put on hold due to his actions at the Oscars or due to timing and other factors.
According to , director David Leitch has stepped down from Netflix’s upcoming film Fast and Loose, starring Smith, to direct Universal’s Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling.
THR also reported that development on Bad Boys 4 has been halted and Smith’s upcoming Apple TV+ drama Emancipation, due out in 2022, has not yet been given a date.
According to Bloomberg, National Geographic is delaying production of a nature series called “Pole to Pole,” starring Smith, in which the actor would visit the North and South Poles.