Hollywood actor Will Smith wanted to show his appreciation to two football players who gave their bullied classmate clothes and a new pair of shoes. He said he could not let their kind deed go unnoticed and so he teamed up with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres for a wonderful surprise.
The viral video caught the attention of Ellen so she invited the three boys, who are students at Memphis’ Martin Luther King Jr. Prep school, on her show to talk about the experience. The bullied kid, named Michael Todd, said he has bullied his entire life so the gift was a total surprise and a shock for him. It was the best day of his life.
In an interview with CBN, Michael said he was bullied for three straight weeks about his clothes because he didn’t have anything else to wear. His mom couldn’t afford to buy him new clothes because he was growing up too fast.
Meanwhile, the two boys Kristopher Graham and Antwan Garrett said they felt bad for their classmate. Kristopher admitted that at one point he too laughed but decided to apologize. He wanted to make his apology special so he grabbed clothes from his home and asked Antwan to help.
Antwan had a pair of new shoes he hadn’t worn. With the gifts on hand, they pulled Michael out of class and gave him their gifts. Little did they know that someone took a video of them. Atwan said he shared the video on Facebook but didn’t expect it to go viral.
“I wanted it to make a difference. To make people stop bullying,” Antwan told Ellen.
Ellen said a lot of celebrities reacted to the video and shared their appreciation. Smith was one of those celebrities, who thought that what the boys did was “fantastic” and should be rewarded in kind.
“There is no way that I’m letting this pass without making contact with these kids,” the “Gemini Man” actor said as he sat down with the boys.
“What you did felt small to you, but I promise you that is exactly how human beings are supposed to interact with one another. It’s not more complicated than that. Somebody is having a hard time and you help them. It’s that simple,” Smith continued.
Kristopher and Antwan barely know Michael but they stepped up and made him feel appreciated and loved. They made Michael feel special and because of this, Smith gifted the boys and the 600 kids at their school with New Balance shoes.
Not only that, DeGeneres pitched in and gave the students $10,000 checks each courtesy of Shutterfly. Smith said Antwan and Kristopher’s kindness should not be forgotten. He added that their small act of kindness made a huge impact on Michael’s life.
Will Smith Surprises Viral Video Classmates for Their Kindness Ellen welcomed high school students Kristopher and Antwain, who surprised their bullied classmate, Micheal, with new clothes and shoes. A video of the kind exchange went viral, and Ellen talked with the three teens about the inspiring gesture.