Actress Zoe Kravitz is best known for playing the role of Selina Kyle / Catwoman in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. The film emerged as a critical and commercial success, giving Kravitz a boost in popularity.
Yet three years later, Kravitz has only made sporadic film appearances and her directorial debut also flew pretty much under the radar. One of the key reasons behind the actress’ seemingly sudden downfall is linked to her controversial comments.
In the past, Kravitz made some comments about Will Smith’s son, Jaden Smith, after the two worked together on a movie. However, given the stark age difference between them and the latter being only fourteen at the time, these comments proved controversial and came back to haunt Kravitz.
Zoe Kravitz made some inappropriate comments on Jaden Smith
Zoe Kravitz received widespread acclaim for her performance as Selina Kyle / Catwoman in 2022’s The Batman. Earlier in her career, Kravitz had appeared alongside Jaden Smith in the 2013 post-apocalyptic film After Earth.
In the same year, Kravitz appeared for a feature in V magazine and was interviewed by JustJared regarding it. During the interview, Kravitz spoke about her friendship with a then-14-year-old Jaden Smith.
The actress admitted to frequently hanging out with him and was surprised that he was only fourteen. Moreover, Kravitz implied that she and Jaden Smith had become acquainted beyond their professional interactions.
He’s so handsome, I was always like, When you’re older, you know, we’ll hangout…Nope, that’s inappropriate, you’re 14.
Kravitz made the above comment about her former co-star, who is nearly a decade younger than her.
Furthermore, her comments were extremely problematic since The Karate Kid star was a minor at the time, while Kravitz wasn’t. Hence, the way she described her presence around the younger actor wasn’t received well, especially since the comments resurfaced a few years down the line.
Zoe Kravitz’s comments came back to haunt her not once but twice
Kravitz’s problematic comments about Jaden Smith first resurfaced shortly after her rise with the success of The Batman. The actress publicly shaded Jaden’s father, Will Smith, after the latter’s infamous Oscars slap incident with Chris Rock.
According to Buzzfeed, Kravitz’s comments quickly went viral and received plenty of attention on social media after she called out Will Smith for his actions in an Instagram post, which she later deleted after intense public backlash.
However, the sudden emergence of her past problematic comments hampered Kravitz’s public perception. In 2024, Kravitz made her directorial debut with the psychological thriller film Blink Twice. Her controversial comments again resurfaced via a widely viewed X (formerly Twitter) post, merely two months before the release of her directorial debut.
The post also argued that Kravitz’s past statements hampered her career as she could not capitalize on the success of The Batman. As a result, it is safe to say that Kravitz’s comments came back to haunt her twice. However, Kravitz is expected to reprise her role in the sequel, which has been in development but has yet to start production.
The Batman is streaming on Max.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
