On Wednesday night, Inter Miami, after a controversy-riddled preseason tour, finally kicked off the proceedings for the 2024 MLS season, hosting Real Salt Lake at Chase Stadium. Lionel Messi, who had to sit out a few preseason friendlies (hence the controversy), was on the starting 11, and he wasted little time to make an impact on the ballgame. In the 39th minute, Messi put Robert Taylor through on goal with a sublime slide rule pass to open up the scoring for the season en route to a comfortable 2-0 victory.

As is the case with Inter Miami games ever since Messi arrived, there were plenty of celebrities that went to Fort Lauderdale just to witness arguably the greatest footballer (or soccer player, if you will) dominate on the pitch. One certified A-lister who was in attendance on Wednesday was Will Smith (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Men In Black), and Smith, as one would do, shared an embrace with Messi just as the Inter Miami players were making their way into the locker room during the halftime break.

Unfortunately for Will Smith, he still hasn't lived down his infamous moment during the 2022 Oscars, as fans on Twitter (X) were quick to bring up Chris Rock's name, as well as the notorious slapping moment involving Smith and Rock, in response to Smith's epic moment with Lionel Messi.

“Glad Messi didn’t get slapped.😅,” one fan wrote. Wrote another, “Messi better keep his wife’s name out of his mouth!!! #InterMiami.”

It's incredible how fans on Twitter tended to have the same jokes for Will Smith; when you scroll up and down the responses to his moment with Lionel Messi, the slap was referenced in about 75 percent of the posts. That Oscars 2022 scuffle between Smith and Chris Rock will be turning two years old in a little over a month, but fans, as always, never forget.

At the end of the day, Will Smith's presence was clearly welcome for Lionel Messi and company, after Inter Miami opened up the 2024 MLS season with a win over Real Salt Lake. And as one fan pointed out, there's nothing that quite says “Welcome to Miami!” better than being graced by Smith's presence.