Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Charity to Close After Oscars Slap: Donations Sink; Thousands Spent on Elusive Mental Health Orgs and Overdrawn Bank Fees (EXCLUSIVE)
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The world of celebrity charitable foundations is big business, from old Hollywood stars like the late Paul Newman’s Newman’s Own Foundation donating hundreds of millions to charity via its food products, to young superstars like Olivia Rodrigo’s Fund 4 Good advocating for reproductive rights on her Guts World Tour. It’s the perfect way for A-listers to spotlight their philanthropy, while their accounts make sure the generosity is accounted for and publicists can place items about caring clients.
The Will And Jada Smith Family Foundation was the perfect outlet for the Hollywood power couple to advocate for the issues that mattered to them, including health and wellness, arts education and sustainability. But Will’s image took a serious hit after he slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. Tax filings show that after the incident, high-profile contributors that had given to the foundation in the past stopped, and the enterprise is in the process of shutting down for good.
According to tax records from the Will And Jada Smith Family Foundation reviewed by Variety (via ProPublica), the foundation’s revenue dropped from $1,760,000 in 2020 and $2,138,660 in 2021 to $365,870 in 2022. The year-over-year drop of 83% included the departure of contributors such as American Airlines, which donated $76,160 in 2021, and CAA, which contributed $100,000 in 2021.
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A source close to the foundation told Variety that the couple was winding down the foundation, which they founded in 1996, before the Oscars slap, and is focusing more on giving the same amount to charitable causes — just privately.
A representative for the Smith family declined to comment.
Looking at 2022 charitable giving, the Will And Jada Smith Family Foundation gave to prominent organizations, including $100,000 to the American Film Institute and $2,500 to Big Brothers Big Sisters. The foundation also donated money to two significantly smaller organizations: Rebecoming and World Rebirth Foundation.
According to its website, Rebecoming is “dedicated to understanding and unlocking the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness through clinical research into the mechanism-of-action behind trauma release.” The organization’s site hasn’t been updated since 2020 and a contact notice sent by Variety went unanswered. Rebecoming Inc. has filed tax paperwork through 2022, but attempts to contact the organization by phone or via the listed addresses were unsuccessful. The Will And Jada Smith Family Foundation gave $15,000 to the organization in 2022.
World Rebirth Foundation Inc. is an Oxnard, Calif.-based organization that is connected to a Beverly Hills P.O. Box. While the organization’s official website is not currently live, there is an official Facebook page that was last updated in July 2023. A typo-filled mission statement on the Facebook page says the organization is “in the nutshell, Help those that are in-need, Teach life skills, and build job skills…” Elsewhere, a focus on “gun violence, mental health and financial literacy” is mentioned.
A phone number listed on the World Rebirth Foundation page went to a voicemail of an organization called Platinum City Entertainment & Films. The last tax paperwork posted on the official IRS website from the organization is from 2021. The Will And Jada Smith Family Foundation gave $10,000 to World Rebirth Foundation in 2022. A source close to the foundation said the amount was a donation to another celebrity’s charity event, but Variety wasn’t able to confirm that detail with the celebrity’s team.
Additional spending from the Will And Jada Smith Family Foundation in 2022 includes expenditures such as office equipment and computers. One noticeable expense is a whopping $3,304 in “bank overdrawn” fees.
Despite those office fees, the source close to the organization cited a decline in staffing as evidence of the family moving away from the organization. In 2021, the company lowered the payment of their two staffers, and as of 2022, no paid staff worked at the organization.
Per the organization’s website, The Will And Jada Smith Family Foundation “has invested millions of dollars and invaluable resources to accelerate the growth of initiatives that focus on deepening individual and collective empowerment.” While the foundation’s Instagram account hasn’t been updated since late 2022, the Facebook was updated in June 2023, and the website has an updated 2024 copyright notice at the bottom.
Despite facing criticism for slapping Rock at the Oscars, Smith is still commanding some of Hollywood’s biggest paydays. Per a Variety report last year, Smith is making his $25 million quote on both the upcoming sequel “Bad Boys 4” and Netflix’s “Fast and Loose.”
2023 tax information from the Will And Jada Smith Family Foundation is set to be released in the coming months.
Additional reporting by Jordan Moreau.
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