Will Smith impersonator Shad Ellis has revealed he has landed more offers and jobs after actor King Richard’s famous Oscar slap.
According to The Sun, the 43-year-old opened up about his booming business: “I got more inquiries and bookings this week than I have in a long time.”
“It’s an old saying that any publicity is good publicity, right?” a Bedford native told the outlet.
“Demand is flooding in all the time… I’ve also had offers for things that involved slapping them in the face, like, ‘can you talk about this product and say if they don’t buy it then they’ll leave? all because I don’t want to disrespect the situation.”he explained.
However, Ellis says he doesn’t accept any show of ‘kicking someone when they’re down’.
“It’s not always about money… what matters most to me is my relationship with someone I’ve been copying for years, it’s part of my life now.”he said.
“I can’t do anything that could be considered disrespectful of the situation because I am ready to work with him in the future and I don’t want to break my bridge.”added Ellis.
Will Smith Double Chance
Ellis, who has been impersonating a Will Smith impersonator for the past 25 years, is considering quitting his doppelganger act before a controversial feud sparks a booking request.
The surge in demand includes a swarm of requests on private video messaging site Cameo, with fans offering to pay him more than $90 to say “Keep my wife’s name out of your damn mouth”as Smith warned Rock .
Ellis told The US Sun that he was also offered more than $5,000 by a social media influencer with 29 million followers who wanted to take him to Los Angeles to film a parody of the Smith-Rock attacks.
“I got more inquiries and bookings this week than I’ve had in a while,” said Ellis, from Bedford, UK.
“Freelance bacon fanatic. Amateur internet scholar. Award-winning pop culture fan.”
