PRINCE TO PAUPER

Actor and singer Will Smith 'got in one little fight' and wants the world to love him again. Fiona Sturges says he can do it, but this tortured, cringey career resurrection is not the way

- By Fiona Sturges

The road to redemption can be rocky for the once all-conquering Hollywood star. One minute you're cock of the walk, the next you're showbusiness roadkill. Peeling yourself off the tarmac and finding a path back to bankability is no easy task. But if anyone has been putting in the hard yards, it's the embattled rapper and actor Will Smith, who has spent the past six months on an international charm offensive.

Only now that charm has curdled, and all because of a video created for the purpose of showing the world he is adored. Ahead of the UK leg of Smith's tour, which began in Scarborough, of all places, a film was posted on his YouTube channel with the caption: "My favourite part of tour is seeing you up close. Thank you for seeing me too." But it later transpired that the footage - which showed concertgoers moved to tears and holding up homemade signs, including one that reads "[The song] 'You Can Make It' helped me survive cancer. Thx Will" - had seemingly been doctored using AI. Because nothing says "We love you" like a doting fan with 11 fingers and three hands.

This week, in a bid to make light of the gaffe, Smith posted a new video that appears to show him performing in concert to an audience of digitally rendered cats, with a caption reading, "Crowd was poppin' tonite!!". Oddly, at the time of writing, no one has thought to take the first video down.