Will Smith takes a visit to HBCU Tougaloo College to speak to students on Will Smith Day

Will Smith visited Tougaloo College today as a favor to his King Richard co-star Aunjanue Ellis. Will Smith spent time speaking with the Mass Communication and Performing Arts students. According to Erin Pickens (16 WAPT) he was not seeking any media attention, and students, faculty, and guest were not allowed to take any video. The event was called Will Smith Day. The audience was allowed to take pictures and video of the visit shot by Will Smith's team will be released at a later time. Will Smith didn't post about the visit, he did however post a video with Martin Lawrence announcing the official filming of Bad Boys 4.

Below is a post from Erin Pickens of 16 WAPT who was on site today for Will Smith's visit.

SURPRISE!! It was Will Smith Day at Tougaloo College! Yes, for real! Yes, that’s him. He wasn’t seeking media attention at all. Actually, his team requested no press because he was there just to talk to our Mass Comm and Performing Arts students. (Yes, I’m media, but I was there in my capacity as Professor Pickens 😬).

Will Smith did this as a favor for his “King Richard” co-star Aunjanue Ellis, a Tougaloo grad. We appreciate her, we appreciate him, and we appreciate all who made this happen. It was a top secret visit, we couldn’t record video, but we could take pictures. These are a few of mine. I’ll post the official ones when we get them and share the video HIS team recorded.

We also thank two of our Mass Comm alum, Tia Jackson c/o ‘20 and Tia Patrick c/o ‘21, who stayed after Will left and shared their post-Tougaloo experiences with students. ❤️💙

The event marks a memorable moment for the Mass Communication and Performing Arts students and faculty at Tougaloo College.

Picture taken by Erin Pickens (Facebook post)