Los Angeles, April 11 (IANS): Hollywood star Will Smith says he will handle his infamous Oscars slap "head on" ahead of his Hollywood comeback with 'Bad Boys: Ride or Die'.

The 55-year-old actor stars alongside Martin Lawrence in the upcoming film and is preparing to embark on a big campaign ahead of the release.

'Bad Boys: Ride or Die' is the actor’s first big project since he slapped Chris Rock at the Academy Award in 2022.

"This film is Will’s big comeback, and his team is going all out to get him out there," a source told The Sun newspaper.

The source shared that Smith plans to address the "elephant in the room" during the promotional campaign for the movie, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"He will deal head-on with the slap and how he has changed since then. It’s likely he will also speak about his marriage to Jada, after they secretly split up more than six years ago,” the source said.

"The slap is still a bit of an elephant in the room, and Will is going to tackle it head-on. He is booked to appear on a number of big US TV shows and will be an open book.”

"People love a redemption story, and Will has done a lot of work on himself. He also has a huge fan base who want him back in the thick of the action."

Smith had apologised to Rock for his behaviour at the Oscars.

The actor in a statement had promised that he would make amends for his mistake.