Why does America love to hate on Will Smith?

I’ve always liked Will Smith. Which is why it makes me sad that so many others choose to dislike him, and be audible about it.

As one of Philadelphia’s favorite native sons. Smith has stayed true to his hometown, never moving permanently to Los Angeles or New York or anywhere else that famous people congregate. (He does have homes elsewhere, but still spends a lot of time here.) He’s made Philadelphia a hipper, trendier place, and supported local enterprise through his ownership of the 76ers and other local enterprises. Not to mention that his tax dollars are certainly among the upper echelon on local tax rolls. Like paved roads and nice parks? Thank Will Smith.

But for some reason, people like to give Will Smith and his family a really hard time. He gets grief about his movie roles, his religion, his marriage. People have gone so far as to attack his daughter. It’s sick, wrong and all the result of jealousy and fame.

I think Philadelphia needs to take a stand. We should be the place where there’s a hater-free zone for Will and his family. When they are home, they should know that the support of their family is with them 100 percent.  They shouldn’t have to worry about stupid blog posts or mean tweets or idiots on talk radio.

The other day I was reading a popular local neighborhood blog. Somehow I came across an article about Smith declaring bankruptcy. I read further and realized that this “article” had been someone’s bright idea for an April Fool’s gag. So disappointing. It was all fake and frankly, not funny at all. We’ve seen enough people in our community and our country lose everything over the last few years. Making fun of such scenarios is trashy, not classy.

I won’t go so far as to say that Men in Black III was a good movie. But I like Will, and I think everybody else should just leave him alone.