Will Smith is seen for first time since Slapgate as he lands in India to meet spiritual leader and yogi Sadhguru who teaches ‘powerful methods for self-transformation’
By GINA MARTINEZ
Will Smith was all smiles as he landed in India where he was seen for the first time since the infamous Oscar’s slap.
Smith was pictured touching down in a private airport in Mumbai on Saturday where he was greeted by adoring fans who he took snaps with.
Smith is reportedly in India to meet spiritual leader Sadhguru, who Smith and his family met with back in 2020 in Los Angeles.
Dressed casually in a white t-shirt, dark grey shorts over white compression tights and a pair of Nike sneakers, Smith looked relaxed and happy after landing in the South Asian country.
As staff helped him unload his things from his vehicle nearby fans excitedly scream ‘Will, Will Smith!’
Smith then takes a couple of selfies with security and turned to the fans yelling his name, giving them a wave while flashing a smile before continuing to take a few more selfies and entering a building where he gives someone a hug.
This is the first time Smith has been spotted in public nearly a month after slapping master of ceremony and comedian Chris Rock on live TV and in front of his co-stars after he n made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s buzzcut.
…Several film projects that Smith had been involved in were put on hold since the controversy, including a sequel to the actor’s 2017 sci-fi action thriller ‘Bright’ directed by David Ayer, which was cancelled by Netflix, Bloomberg reported.
Smith’s National Geographic nature series, ‘Pole to Pole’ which follows the 53-year-old star to the North and South Poles, and was set to begin filming in three weeks, has been paused until fall 2022, the news outlet reported.
Additional projects Smith had lined up that have been getting smacked down, include a movie for Sony that has been delayed and another Netflix project for the ‘Fast and Loose’.
Netflix was in the midst of finding a new director for the film after David Leitch left the film ahead of the Academy Awards.
The Sony film, ‘Bad Boys 4,’ which had started pre-production before the awards ceremony, was also put on hold.
Amid mounting pressure, Will resigned from the Academy and issued an apology to Chris Rock, who has not publicly responded.
…Smith’s documented one of his meetings with Sadhguru at his LA home in 2020.
The yogi, 65, whose real name is Jaggi Vasudev and who owns an Ashram in India, started his own non-profit spiritual foundation and has more than three million followers on Twitter.
Smith said he was a huge fan of Sadhguru and had followed him since reading his book ‘Inner Engineering’ and wanted to introduce the guru to his family.
‘I wanted my family to meet spiritual people, to start interacting with people who are not hooked on the material world,’ he said.
In a clip shared to Smith’s social media, Sadhguru is seen pulling up to the actor’s home on a motorcycle and chatting with him and his daughter Willow.
Sadhguru tells the group: ‘In any area of life, those who are most successful are always the most miserable people because they get to the top of the world and the top of the world doesn’t feel like the top of the world.’
‘What happened yesterday they’re suffering today. Are you suffering life or your memory? You’re just suffering your memory,’ he tells an attentive Smith.
‘What may happen tomorrow you already suffer. You’re suffering your imagination!’
Following their meeting Willow Smith revealed that Sadghuru helped her through an ‘existential crisis,’ saying she was filled with ‘gratitude’ for this moment.
Last month the guru sparked controversy when he appeared on British morning show This Morning and claimed that a major event such as the Covid-19 pandemic doesn’t make people unhappy.
He claimed that ‘human suffering’ occurs because people ‘don’t know how to handle themselves’ spiritually and physically.
However, his teachings fells on deaf ears on Twitter, where This Morning viewers questioned his motives, calling him a charlatan and complaining he was on the show for too long.
