Questlove has claimed Will Smith had to drop out of a surprise appearance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday because he was shooting “Bad Boys 4.”
During the show, Questlove and his band The Roots took part in a collaborative performance celebrating 50 years of hip-hop alongside Nelly, Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Run-DMC, and Will’s former performing partner DJ Jazzy Jeff, among others.
The musician revealed to Variety on the red carpet that Will was originally supposed to be involved in the tribute.
“I’ll give the spoiler alert away. Will Smith was part of the festivities tonight, but they started shooting Bad Boys 4 this week,” he explained. “There were a lot of preliminary shots that he had to do, so we had to lose Will.”
He added that getting Will involved was “a shot in the dark” because he is “always shooting movies.”
The performance would have marked the actor’s first awards show appearance since he infamously slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars after the presenter made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Chris was presenting the award for Best Documentary, which was awarded to Questlove just after the shocking moment.
Will and his “Bad Boys” co-star Martin Lawrence announced that they were reuniting for a fourth instalment last week. The project is being directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who helmed 2020’s “Bad Boys for Life.”