Fresh Prince guest star Kathy Griffin claims Will Smith 'ignored her for a week'

A guest star on Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Kathy Griffin, said Will Smith didn't talk to her 'all week' while she was working on the show. The 64-year-old comedian said the popular 90s sitcom was the 'first big gig' she had but Will - who she previously criticised for slapping at the Oscars - 'ignored her'.

She appeared on the podcast and said: "This was the first big gig I had." She said Will didn't 'talk to her until show day' after 'ignoring her all week, because he’s launching a gigantic show.' Thankfully, as the show went on, the star - who rose to fame thanks to the sitcom - warmed up to her.

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"I finally got to talk to him on shooting day, which was Friday, I said, 'What would you like me to call you, Fresh Prince or Will?” And he said, “You can call me Will'," she said.

"So I did, and I was, you know, nervous around him, because I’d seen all his videos, and Jazzy Jeff was there for a day, which was great, and the live audience went crazy when they saw Jazzy Jeff. He may have even DJ’d, if I recall correctly."

The popular programme first aired in 1990 and continued until 1996.

Kathy sympathised with Will, adding in the podcast: "I can’t imagine the pressure he had on.

"But I do remember that Friday night when the audience was there and it was time to actually roll tape, he really took his time to kind of get to know me a little bit.

"And he was asking about me and helping me relax. I didn’t tell him I was nervous, but I think he could tell that I hadn’t done a show this big before."

In 2022, after Will stormed the Oscars stage to slap Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, Kathy criticised the star on X, formerly known as .

"Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a comedian," she wrote at the time.

"Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters." And ahead of the 2024 awards show, she hit out at him again.

She posted a throwback clip of Joan Rivers slapping her during a roast and joked: "Joan and I walked so Chris and Will could run… my jaw still hurts."

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