Will Smith told reporters in Dubai on Sunday that despite how “painful” it is to hear Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speak, it’s a good thing, as it introduces a “cleansing” in the US.
“As the election goes on, I do believe I will be called on to more specifically speak out about the insanity. But I feel very, very confident that what we’re seeing happening in America right now is a cleansing. Things are coming to the surface,” said Smith.
“I think of things in terms of marriage counselling — I’ve done a lot of marriage counselling. What happens in a marriage once you do counselling and the truth comes out: you sit across from your wife, and you’ve said all of your truth, and she’s said all of her truth, and you look at each other, and you can’t imagine you could possibly ever love each other again now that the truth is out,” added the actor, who has been married to actress Jada Pinkett Smith for 19 years.
Smith said this creates a dark moment, but for him, it’s only the dark before the dawn.
“When the truth comes out, and people have to stand and say who they are and what they think, and you get to know who they are, I think that’s the cleansing before we get to the other side that is understanding, that is moving forward in our relationship,” he said.
“As painful as it is to hear Donald Trump talk, and as embarrassing as it is as an American to hear him talk, I think it’s good. We get to hear it, we get to know who people are, and now we get to cleanse it out of our country.”
For Smith, battling Islamophobia starts with sending out a positive image.
“In terms of Islamophobia in America, for me, that’s why it’s important to show up. It’s like, I’m in Dubai. And I’m having fun. And I’m tweeting, and I’m showing pictures. Hey, doesn’t look like they hate me, does it? I think that the imagery of it is hugely important to me.”
Smith was in the UAE to promote his latest film, Suicide Squad, which is currently out in cinemas. He called Dubai one of his two favourite cities, alongside Miami.
Later that night, the actor suited up and walked a barricaded red carpet at City Centre Deira, where hundreds of screaming fans flanked him, asking for selfies and autographs. The actor happily obliged between photo ops and interview questions.
Some fans were reported to have arrived as early as 1pm to catch a glimpse of Smith, who arrived just before 7pm. He was greeted with a traditional Emirati dance, known as Ayala dancing or stick dancing, and even grabbed a cane to try it himself.
“I enjoy my job. I’ve been in this business for 30 years — and when you come to a place and you meet people like this, I feed off the energy and the crowd, so thank you all,” said Smith on the carpet.
An estimated 550 people attended the screening at the mall’s new VOX MAX theatre, which holds the largest cinema screen in the MENA region at 31 metres wide and nearly 13 metres tall.
