Will Smith Had To Drop Out Of Grammys Hip Hop Tribute Due To ‘Bad Boys 4’ Scheduling Conflict 

Will Smith was supposed to appear in the star-studded Grammys performance that celebrated the 50th anniversary of hip hop.

The actor, who was one of the biggest rappers in the ’90s a.k.a the Fresh Prince, was forced to step away from the gig last minute due to a scheduling conflict.

“I’ll give the spoiler alert away. Will Smith was apart of the festivities tonight, but they started shooting ‘Bad Boys 4’ this week,” Questlove, who coordinated the tribute, told Variety on Sunday night during a red carpet interview. “There were a lot of preliminary shots that he had to do, so we had to lose Will.”

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The award-winning musician and record producer added that attempting to get Smith for the 14-minute-long performance was “a shot in the dark” because he is “always shooting movies.” The actor and his co-star Martin Lawrence just announced the sequel last week.

However, Smith wasn’t the only hip hop artist who was pulled from the choreographed number. In a separate interview, Questlove told the New York Times that Lil Wayne and Future were also set to perform in the tribute but both backed out last minute.

Nonetheless, Questlove still managed to put together an iconic show featuring several A-list artists, including those who paved the way like LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Big Boi, De La Soul, Salt-N-Pepa, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Melle Mel, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Ice-T, Busta Rhymes, Method Man, Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Rakim, Scarface and Too Short.

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“I explained to them all that I understand the historical significance of it,” Questlove shared with the newspaper. “But you’ve got to understand that there is a new generation that has a seat at the table. Our job is to make it right.”

“I know this reeks of a lot of overcompensatory acts, but just trust me, the old guard is gone and the new guard is the establishing guard,” he continued. “What should’ve been due to you 35 or 40 years ago is coming to light now.”