Arguments for:
- Everybody knows Will Smith
- I have included him on this list almost every year I’ve been playing this game and it’s never been his year. Is it time? Will Smith is a big international movie star. He may not be the blockbuster star he was before but he’s across the board recognised and acknowledged to be a movie star.
- For the most part, Will Smith is a safe choice, scandal-free. The marriage is stable. He’s not messing around with lawsuits and public fights like Johnny Depp.
- Will has a new Netflix movie coming out in a month called Bright. The timing is excellent. And they need to start building awareness for it.
- He’s charitable. See Tyrese Gibson.
- As previously mentioned, Denzel Washington is the only black man to have ever been named SMA - and that was years and years ago.
- Will would totally say yes.
Arguments against:
- Would PEOPLE go with two men of colour back to back as the Sexiest Man Alive? Or are they more like, nah, we did it last year. We can go back to whiteness now.
- Will’s popularity probably peaked a while back. If he wasn’t the SMA at the height of his fame, I’m not loving his chances now.
Odds: 25 to 1
