Will Smith Thanks His Supporters for Sticking With Him at ‘Bad Boys 4’ Premiere: ‘The Fans Are Ride or Die’

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence arrived at the Los Angeles premiere of “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” on Thursday night atop a double decker bus, where they were greeted by cheering fans lining Hollywood Boulevard. “It’s not just here,” Smith told PvNew about the fans who continued to support him, even when his reputation faltered in the wake of the Oscars slap. “It’s all over the world. Every time we step out together, it’s nothing but love. I think the fans are ride or die also.”

Inside the TCL Chinese Theatre, the actor thanked Sony Pictures Entertainment chairperson Tom Rothman for sticking by him. “Tom Rothman is a real life ride or die,” he said. “Tom Rothman was messing with me when nobody was messing with me. That is my dude.”

Smith also revealed he injured himself while filming the fourth installment of the hit action comedy franchise: “We had all these big giant stunts and stuff, but there was a jump rope scene and I had one jump rope — not even two times around, one time around — and on the first one, I got a tear in my heel. I was like, ‘We just had all these action scenes and I tore my heel doing one jump rope!’”

The cast and creatives are optimistic about the film’s box office, even as other recent installments of legacy franchises have failed to live up to ticket sale expectations. “You never know with those things,” Smith said. “But this concept, the chemistry, the comedy, the action — I think the range of comedy and action, there’s very few movies that can stretch as far as ‘Bad Boys’ do. Big wild broad comedy that doesn’t break the seriousness the action. It’s a rated-R comedy action and I just think people need to laugh as hard as they laugh in this movie. … People just need the joy that comes from this movie.”

Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” cast also includes Tiffany Haddish, Rhea Seehorn, Jacob Scipio, Tasha Smith, Eric Dane, Melanie Liburd and Joe Pantoliano.