Nearly five months after Will Smith assaulted comedian Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, the once-universally beloved actor (and never universally-beloved wife) have seen their popularity (or Q scores) take a steep dive:
Before the incident, Smith consistently ranked among the country’s top 5 or 10 most positively rated actors in Q Scores’ semiannual surveys (fielded every January and July), which poll 1,800 U.S. consumers ages 6 and up. …
But between Q Scores’ January survey, conducted before the Oscars, and its July polling, the first following the slap, Smith’s positive Q Score plummeted from a stellar 39 to 24, which [Henry] Schafer [executive VP of Q Scores] characterized as “a very significant and precipitous decline.
Unsurprisingly, Smith’s negatives rocketed from 10 to 26, when the average is around 16 or 17.
It’s hard to imagine that even ten percent of people disliked Will Smith before the slap.
Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, never had a high Q score, but in the wake of the assault, that low score is even lower—from 13 to 6. She has always been one of the least likable public figures around. Smug, full of herself, etc. Now she’s a six.
Her negatives soared from a 29 to 44. Remember, a 16 or 17 is considered average, and she was already well above average in the negative department. To be fair, her frosty persona works in some roles. I’m not knocking her talent. But who would want to have a beer with Jada Pinkett Smith? Will was her exact opposite in that department.
As for the victim of the assault, Chris Rock, his Q scores have stayed about the same. He sits at a 20 positive and 14 negative.
There is some really good news in this report. Johnny Depp, the victim of a malicious and dishonest years-long #MeToo propaganda campaign, has emerged from his courtroom vindication with a 35 Q score, which puts him just below the top six Q scores out there:
- Morgan Freeman: 44
- Tom Hanks: 43
- Samuel L. Jackson: 37
- Keanu Reeves: 37
- Dwayne Johnson: 36
- Ryan Reynolds: 36
As I mentioned in March, in the immediate aftermath of Smith’s Oscar debacle, time was not on Big Willie’s side. As the public took time to process the assault, more and more people would realize just how outrageous and entitled his behavior was and turn against him.
His apologies have not helped, either.
Primarily, though, what’s hurting Smith is Rock’s refusal to let him off the hook. Rock refuses to take Smith’s calls, refuses to say the two of them have buried the hatchet, and this leaves Smith dangling out there, which is undoubtedly what Rock wants—and who can blame him?
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