Will Smith may be known as an award-winning actor in recent decades, but he was one of the pillars of hip-hop music in the 90s after his appearance on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." More recently, it was revealed that the artist was supposed to attend this year's Grammy Awards but had to tap out; what was the reason for his absence?
This year's ceremony featured a performance from renowned hip-hop artists to celebrate the genre's 50th year in the industry. Questlove revealed that Smith was supposed to be a part of the tribute, but he wasn't able to attend the event.
Speaking to Variety, the rapper explained why the actor was absent from the performance, saying, "I'll give the spoiler alert away: Will Smith was a part of the festivities tonight, but they started shooting 'Bad Boys 4' already this week."
He added that there are a lot of preliminary shots that they have to take, but since Smith was busy with his upcoming movie, they had to lose him.
He further explained that the actor's supposed appearance was "a shot in the dark" because he's always working in the film industry. The performance was also supposed to feature "a lot of people" but most of them have other jobs.
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"There was a lot of legit reasons why we couldn't be all-inclusive of some people," Questlove, whose real name is Ahmir Khalib Thompson, added.
The recent revelation comes after several hip-hop icons took the stage of The Grammy Awards ceremony at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, to celebrate 50 years of the genre.
The segment was hosted by LL Cool J and it began with DJ Kool Herc's "Back to School Jam." The star-studded performance featured some of the biggest artists in the industry including Rick Ross, Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne, Nelly, Too Short, The Roots, and many more.
If ever Smith had attended the ceremony, it would have been the first time he and Questlove would reunite after he slapped Chris Rock at last year's Academy Awards after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith's hairstyle.
Questlove noted that he never witnessed the infamous Oscar moment as he was meditating during the commercial break.
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