Why you won't see Will Smith on the red carpet or on late night tv to promote his latest blockbuster Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Will Smith is refusing to take part in the publicity campaign for new movie Bad Boys: Ride or Die over fears he will be asked about the infamous 2022 Oscars slap and the state of his marriage with Jada Pinkett Smith, DailyMail.com has exclusively learned.

The actor, 55, hasn't given an interview since sitting down with Trevor Noah in November 2022 when he issued a mea culpa over the incident which saw him storm the stage and deliver a slap to Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Pinkett-Smith's alopecia.

Then, in October 2023, Pinkett-Smith released her memoir Worthy in which she revealed the couple have 'been separated in every way except legally' since 2016.

Smith responded with a brief emailed statement to the New York Times but hasn't commented further about the end of his marriage.

Now the actor has decided to avoid more tricky questions by operating a social media only approach to publicizing his latest movie.

DailyMail.com can reveal that Will Smith refuses to participate in any press for his upcoming film Bad Boys: Ride or Die to avoid being questioned about his personal life

Will Smith, 55, has not given an interview since November 2022 when he issued an apology over slapping Chris Rock on the Oscars stage 

The actor's wife Jada Pinkett-Smith released a memoir in October 2023 where she revealed the couple have been 'separated in every way except legally' 

Insiders told DailyMail.com that he doesn't want the controversies dragged back up and wants to get back to the popularity he enjoyed prior the slapping incident.

The source said: 'Will doesn't want to do any promo other than social media because he doesn't want to get into the slap or his marriage again.

'He's refusing to do any of the normal stuff he would do like interviews. He's not ashamed about what happened to his marriage but he just doesn't want to get into the dark stuff again.'

Sony Entertainment and Smith have been approached for comment by DailyMail.com.

A glance at Smith's social media accounts show that he is using them to promote the fourth movie in the Bad Boys franchise, last week posting a photo to Instagram showing him with co-star Martin Lawrence.

In the caption, he wrote: 'Happy Bday to my Ride or Die @martinlawrence! Me and Marty Mar are 'bout to get on a plane and run up on y'all for @badboys, BE READY!!'

Two weeks ago, he offered up photos of himself and Lawrence on set and posted again on April 11 to mark the release of the poster campaign for the summer blockbuster.

On March 28, he showed up for the official trailer launch and took to social media after filming wrapped on March 4 to share a video of himself eating plain spaghetti in his luxury Miami hotel room, captioning it 'Miami roll'.

But despite Smith's social media efforts – among them a video of a Bad Boys coffee that he captioned 'Bad Boy for Latte' – the movie has been so low profile that cinema website Screen Rant ran an article asking why so little has been heard about it at the end of February.

The piece – entitled: It's Weird How Little We've Heard About Will Smith's Upcoming $841 Million Franchise Sequel – noted there is very little 'marketing buzz' around the movie and said it was 'surprising' that there has been so little discussion of it.

Although the movie, which is scheduled for release on June 7, has a website, its contents are limited to a trailer and a handful of stills.

A glance at Smith's social media accounts show that he is using them to promote the fourth movie in the Bad Boys franchise, last week posting a photo to Instagram showing him with co-star Martin Lawrence

Despite his reluctance to take part in the publicity campaign, Smith hasn't vanished entirely and made a surprise appearance during Coachella's opening weekend.

The multi-talented actor popped up on stage at the end of Colombian singer J Balvin's set where he rapped the lyrics to his smash-hit single Men in Black while dressed in his 1997 character Agent J's trademark black suit.

Despite his very public appearance in Indio, Smith has kept a relatively low profile since the March 2022 slap which led to him being banned from the Oscars ceremony for 10 years and to his resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Three days after the incident, he released an apologetic statement that read: 'I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work.

'I am heartbroken. I want to put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film.

'So, I am resigning from membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and will accept any further consequences the Board deems appropriate.'

Smith made a cameo at Coachella's opening weekend on stage during Colombian singer J Balvin's set where he rapped the lyrics to his smash-hit single Men in Black while dressed in his 1997 character Agent J's trademark black suit

He later addressed the controversy again in a November 2022 interview to promote his box office flop Emancipation which he later described as 'the most painful failure of my career' and 'a trainwreck from start to finish'.

Speaking to Noah about the moment he slapped Rock, he said: 'That was a horrific night, as you can imagine.

'There's many nuances and complexities to it, but at the end of the day, I just — I lost it. I guess what I would say, you just never know what somebody's going through.

'I was going through something that night. And not that that justifies my behavior at all. You're asking what did I learn and it's that we just got to be nice to each other, man. It's hard.

'And I guess the thing that was most painful for me is that I took my hard and made it hard for other people.'

He added: 'I understand how shocking that was for people [to watch], man. ... That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time. But I understand the pain.'