Shaun White Was Spotted Goofing Around With Will Smith Who Once Gave Him the Advice to ‘Do What Feels Right to You’

With his illustrious snowboarding, Shaun White gained a ton of invitations to the most exclusive events. Before the COVID-19 virus spread through the world like wildfire, White would often attend extravagant festivals, shows, and award functions. 

Naturally, he made some incredible friendships along the way. The three-time Olympic champion announced his relationship with popular actor Nina Dobrev in May 2020. But before that, he met the man who eventually gave him sage advice on how to handle their very public relationship.

Shaun White spotted having a good time with Will Smith

In 2020, Shaun White made a re-appearance at Milan Fashion Week for the Moncler show. Here, he encountered the pop culture icons Will Smith, Shailene Woodley, and YouTube sensation Liza Koshy.

He posted a video clip on his Instagram, with an excited Will Smith guiding him to capture their ragtag gang as they had a blast in Milan. He captioned the post, “Getting crazy out here in Milan for the @Moncler fashion show!! 😆”

Just a few months after that, Nina Dobrev made her relationship with the snowboarding star official to her almost 26 million Instagram followers. Though they received a mostly positive response from the public, negative comments inevitably cropped up as well.

When you’re as famous as an Olympic snowboarding icon like White and a hit film and television star like Dobrev, you need a strategy to deal with social media. And the ‘Men in Black’ star Will Smith provided exactly that for Shaun White.

READ MORE: Olympic Legend Shaun White Moving on to ‘Bluer’ Pastures After Snowboarding Retirement

Will Smith offered the young snowboarder some sage advice

Talking to Rolling Stone magazine, Shaun White revealed that Will Smith gave him the perfect tools to navigate the overwhelming digital world of social media. He outlined four ironclad rules that White follows to this day.

The conversation took place at a social gathering. “I remember reading the comments when I was younger and then — not to name-drop — but I was at dinner with Will Smith and a bunch of people,” White relayed.

“We were talking about social media and he was just like, ‘Here are the rules: Do what feels right to you. Be real. Be open. And do not read the comments. Never read the comments,’” he continued. Seeing that the advice came from a veteran in dealing with the public eye, the snowboarding champion took it to heart.

“After that, I was like, ‘Okay.’ So I just stopped,” he concluded. Shaun White has 2.2 million followers on Instagram, which only amounts to a fraction of his girlfriend’s popularity on the internet. He expressed his awe, “In her world, it’s so wild…”

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