Will Smith Dropped Out Of Surprise Grammys Performance To Film 'Bad Boys 4,' Questlove Says

Will Smith resigned form the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over his assault of Chris Rock AFP / Patrick T. FALLON

KEY POINTS

Will Smith was supposed to be part of Questlove's hip-hop tribute at the 2023 Grammys
Questlove said he understood Smith's decision to put filming first
Questlove said Ice-T, Queen Latifah and LL Cool J all had to leave their respective shows to participate in the tribute

Will Smith had to back out of a surprise performance for Sunday's 2023 Grammys ceremony due to scheduling conflicts, according to Questlove.

Smith, 54, was supposed to join Questlove in a star-studded tribute at the 65th Grammy Awards to celebrate 50 years of hip-hop. However, the actor had to drop out of the performance because it clashed with the filming of the fourth installment of "Bad Boys."

"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," Questlove, who curated the 14-minute-long celebration that aired Sunday evening, told Variety on the red carpet. "There were a lot of preliminary shots that he had to do, so we had to lose Will."

Questlove said he understood Smith's decision to put filming first. He told the outlet that getting Smith for the tribute was "a shot in the dark" as the award-winning actor is "always shooting movies."

The four-time Grammy winner added that the celebration "had a lot of people, and some of them have other jobs," noting that the Roots, Ice-T, Queen Latifah, LL Cool J and several other performers all had to "leave their respective shows" in order to join the tribute.

Questlove shared that the original tribute was 23 minutes long before it was cut down to 14 minutes.

"It's going to be amazing," he teased before the ceremony.

Last week, Smith announced via an Instagram video that he was reuniting with Martin Lawrence for "Bad Boys 4."

The video followed Smith as he drove to Lawrence's home, telling his followers, "Yo, I've got an announcement, y'all better stop scrolling."

The opening bars of "Shake Ya Tailfeather" by Nelly, Diddy and Murphy Lee from the soundtrack of 2003's "Bad Boys II" can be heard playing in the background.

When Smith arrived at Lawrence's home, the latter opened the door and asked Smith, "It's about that time?"

Lawrence realized that the answer was yes and added, "It's about that time! Oh, my boy."

The pair hugged before Lawrence once more said, "It's about that time. You know what it is."

"It's official, y'all!" Smith yelled. "Bad Boys for life, baby!"

The 65th Grammy Awards are airing live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles Sunday night.