Two of Hollywood’s most controversial leading men have been hanging out − and the internet isn’t too happy about it.
They’ve played The Fresh Prince and Captain Jack Sparrow, but in real life, Will Smith and Johnny Depp are raising eyebrows for reprising other roles: longtime friends.
The pair were pictured overseas this week on a yacht in Tuscany with Egyptian singer Ahmed Saad ahead of attending Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli’s 30th-anniversary concert. On Wednesday, a video of the duo was shared on Bocelli’s official Instagram Story, but not everybody is feeling the love.
In recent years, both men have been embroiled in highly publicized controversies surrounding assaults and violence − and cast aside as embattled A-listers.
Will Smith and Johnny Depp criticized for hanging out: ‘I’ve had it’
In a Buzzfeed article published Wednesday, writer Natasha Jokic took issue with the two men for hanging out together.
“I just refuse to sit here and act like it isn’t absolutely freakish behavior,” adding that “I firmly believe Heard will find her place in groveling, ‘we-were-so-wrong’ media reexaminations in future years, but I don’t care to wait that long.”
Some on social media didn’t appreciate the snap of Smith and Depp, either.
“Ew. Would love to see Amber and Jada in a pic together instead, two of ‘the most hated women in the world’. It would be empowering,” one user wrote.
Another said, “Ew. Johnny Depp is a wife beating rapist.”
One commenter continued: “Well now I’m glad I didn’t see bad boys in theaters. I was planning too soon.”
Depp was center stage two years ago in a defamation trial involving allegations of abuse from his ex-wife, “Aquaman” actress Amber Heard. Earlier that year, at the 94th Academy Awards in March, Smith slapped Chris Rock after the comedian joked about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head from alopecia.
However, the criticism comes amid public comebacks for both men.
Last month, Smith starred opposite Martin Lawrence in “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” the fourth film in the legendary movie franchise. Depp made an acting comeback earlier this year as France’s King Louis XV, in the French-language film “Jeanne du Barry” in May.
