Will Smith Offers Two Free Months of Apple TV+ to Promote Comeback Film ‘Emancipation’

Actor Will Smith is offering people two free months of an Apple TV+ subscription so that viewers can watch his 2022 film Emancipation.

“I’ve been reading a lot of the comments, and I see a lot of people saying they don’t have Apple TV+. That’s unacceptable to me,” Smith said in an Instagram video.

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Smith went on to explain that he reached out to Apple and secured a deal for new and returning subscribers to watch the film for free.

“I went to Apple and I was like, ‘Yo, my people, you know, we got the film, my people need to have Apple TV+,'” the actor said. “So I got two months free of Apple TV+ for everybody to watch Emancipation.”

“Now, I know, I know, y’all that already got Apple TV+, you’re like, ‘Oh, thanks, Will, but I already got it.’ Yeah, your aunt doesn’t,” Smith added in response to anyone who might be annoyed that they already have a subscription.

Smith then directed people to tell their friends about the streaming deal at a particular web link.

Emancipation — which chronicles the journey of Peter, a black man who escapes slavery in Louisiana to reunite with his family — was released in theaters on December 2 and began streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday.

The story is inspired by the famous Harper’s Weekly photo of “Whipped Peter,” a black man whose back is profusely scarred from whippings. Joey McFarland, a producer on the film, sparked controversy when he carried the “Whipped Peter” photo with him at the red carpet of the movie’s premiere. McFarland “wholeheartedly” apologized to his woke critics on social media.

Smith’s move to give fans a two-month free subscription of Apple TV+ comes after he infamously stormed onto the Oscars stage earlier this year and smacked Chris Rock across the face in retaliation for a joke about his wife.

Emancipation director Antoine Fuqua says he hopes that “compassion” for the disgraced actor will draw viewers to watch the film.

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