Will Smith Was Supposed to Be In the 2023 Grammys Hip-Hop Tribute — But Dropped Out
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Find out why the Fresh Prince bowed out.
Will Smith was slated to perform as part of the epic 2023 Grammys hip-hop tribute, but backed out.
Questlove delivered the revelation, telling Variety, “I’ll give the spoiler alert away. Will Smith was a part of the festivities tonight, but they started shooting Bad Boys 4 this week. There were a lot of preliminary shots that he had to do, so we had to lose Will.”
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The musician added that trying to book Smith was “a shot in the dark” because the Oscar winner is “always shooting movies.”
Questlove noted that other stars who participated, including Ice-T, L.L. Cool J and Queen Latifah each had to take time off from their respective TV shows (Law & Order: SVU, NCIS: Los Angeles and The Equalizer) to be able to rehearse and perform.
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If Smith attended and participated, it would have been the actor's first awards show appearance since the infamous Chris Rock slap at the 2022 Oscars—which, incidentally, Smith delivered while Rock was presenting the award for Best Documentary Feature, an award Questlove and his colleagues won for Summer of Soul.
Smith has a long history with the Grammys.
In 1989, he and DJ Jazzy Jeff were the first recipients ever of the Best Rap Performance Grammy for "Parents Just Don't Understand," but boycotted the ceremony because no hip-hop artists were invited to perform. In 1990, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince became the first hip-hop act to ever perform on the Grammys stage.
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They later won another Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Summertime."
Smith went on to win Best Rap Solo Performance Grammys in 1998 for "Men In Black" and 1999 for "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It."
