Will Smith Reportedly Abandoned Grammy Appearance Due To Bad Boys 4 Prep
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Will Smith’s live appearances have been few and far between since last year’s Oscar incident, but it seems that he was supposed to make the biggest return to the public eye in almost a year as part of this year’s Grammy Awards but pulled out of the appearance. While this led some to instantly speculate on the reason for Smith’s no-show, it seems that there is a very simple reason behind his side-stepping of the event.
While the Grammy Awards celebrated 50 years of hip-hop with a tribute being put together for the event, speaking to Variety on the red carpet, Questlove confirmed that Smith had been scheduled to be part of the section, but in the end had to pull out. Questlove said:
"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."
It is coming up to a year since Will Smith sent a shockwave around the world by slapping Chris Rock over a joke made at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony. While that led to Smith being temporarily blacklisted, a number of projects put on hold and a ten year ban from attending any Academy events, the actor has slowly made his way back into the public domain, and that included last week’s announcement that Bad Boys 4 is finally moving forward.
Related: Will Smith Can 'Absolutely' Return for Bad Boys 4, Says Jerry Bruckheimer
Will Bad Boys 4 Be The Big Hit Will Smith is Hoping for?
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence struck box office gold when they released Bad Boys for Life back in 2020, when thanks to the arrival of the Covid pandemic soon after its release, the belated sequel became the highest-grossing movie of the year. After taking $426.5 million at the worldwide box office, a sequel was always likely to follow, and was expected to take the franchise to even greater heights. However, last year’s Oscars slap threatened to derail the sequel. However, Sony Chairman Tom Rothman addressed the rumors of a cancelation last year, saying:
"[Bad Boys 4] That movie's been in development and still is. There weren't any brakes to pump because the car wasn't moving. That was a very unfortunate thing that happened [at the Oscars], and I don't think it's really my place to comment, except to say that I've known Will Smith for many years, and I know him to be a good person. That was an example of a very good person having a very bad moment, in front of the world. I believe his apology and regret is genuine, and I believe in forgiveness and redemption."
It looks like that redemption has finally come, and Bad Boys 4 is movie ahead. While there is currently no word on when the film will be released, it seems that shooting is on the verge of starting, which would mean we can probably expect the movie to arrive sometime in 2024.
