LeBron James and Will Smith meet Angola’s president during E1 World Championship stop
On Sunday Angola’s president, João Lourenço, received LeBron James and Will Smith at the presidential palace while the two Americans were in the country to attend a round of the E1 World Championship, the electric raceboat series they have invested in.
Once an outspoken critic of political abuses, LeBron James has become noticeably quieter on public political issues; allies of Donald Trump previously told him to “shut up and dribble,” anti-government protesters in Hong Kong burned his jersey over perceived silence, and, the report says, he and many other US athletes have barely spoken on politics during Trump’s second term in power. The article also notes a recent instance in which James promoted a prediction market.
Local media reported that Lourenço used the meeting to discuss promoting Angola abroad, citing tourism, cinema and basketball as particular areas of interest, and James visited the National Museum of Slavery during the trip. The piece cites research estimating that nearly 45% of enslaved Africans taken to the Americas departed from ports in what is now Angola, and records James as saying: “Obviously there is a lot of history here,” James told local media. “A lot of history that not only is here in the country but also [crosses] over to America.”
Will Smith’s earlier trip to Angola in March 2026 is described as coinciding with the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade; during that visit Smith was filmed discussing ways to support the country’s international tourism campaign and, as he left Angola, posted on Instagram: “We came, we saw, it was beautiful,” Smith said in an Instagram post as he left Angola. “And we shall return.”
The article outlines recent Angolan legislation and security measures under Lourenço, saying he signed into law provisions that grant the government broad powers to monitor and suspend civil society organisations under vague claims of “security threats.” It adds that by 2024 he had “effectively criminalized participation in peaceful protests” when he signed a law enacting punishments of up to 25 years in jail for acts of vandalism, and that he signed a law giving security forces the power to supervise media outlets.
Alongside these measures, Lourenço’s government has pursued investments in sports and entertainment, the report states: Angola hosted and won the Fiba AfroBasket last year, and in 2026 the government inaugurated three new stadiums said to comply with Fifa and World Athletics standards. The E1 World Championship is described as the latest international spectacle the country has sought to attract.
The article places the Angola visits in a broader pattern of celebrities engaging with contested regimes, citing Smith’s recent trip to Egypt and his appearance in a campaign for a real estate project in Ain El Sokhna along Egypt’s Red Sea coast. It also points to other examples in the region, invoking Rwanda under Paul Kagame — noting alleged severe human rights abuses and Kagame’s use of sport and sponsorships, including NBA appearances and ties to clubs such as Aston Villa, Paris Saint-Germain and Atlético Madrid — and mentions that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have both promoted Saudi Arabia, according to the piece.
The report concludes by linking James and Smith’s presence to their roles in the E1 World Championship: both men are among those who have bought into the series, and their trip to Angola coincided with a round of that competition.