Cliff Notes – Hollywood star claims Will Smith ‘ignored me for a week’ on Fresh Prince

Kathy Griffin recounted her experience filming Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, stating that Will Smith ‘ignored’ her until the day of filming, attributing it to the pressure of launching a major show.
Despite initial coldness, Griffin noted that Smith eventually warmed up to her during the filming process, helping her feel more at ease.
Griffin acknowledged the immense pressure Smith faced at the time, reflecting on how it may have influenced his behaviour during their initial interactions.

Hollywood star claims Will Smith ‘ignored me for a week’ on Fresh Prince

Kathy Griffin reflected on her time on popular 90s show Fresh Prince of Bel Air but it wasn’t all laughs as Will Smith apparently ‘ignored’ her.

The 64-year-old comedian previously criticised the Men in Black icon after his infamous Chris Rock slap over concerns it would embolden disgruntled audience members.

Fresh Prince, which launched Will’s career as a TV star instead of a rapper, had not even begun to air when Kathy appeared as guest star.

‘This was the first big gig I had,’ she recalled on her Talk Your Head Off podcast.

The comedian then revealed that Will ‘did not talk to me until show day’, having ‘ignored me all week, because he’s launching a gigantic show’.

While Will, 56, may not have been the most welcoming, Kathy did confirm that he later warmed to her as the show went on.

‘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 continued.

‘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 episode aired in the show’s first season in 1990, with Fresh Prince eventually wrapping for good in 1996 after 148 episodes.

Kathy shared: ‘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.’

Since Fresh Prince, Kathy has gone on to appear in numerous comedies like Seinfeld as well as in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.

Meanwhile, Will went on to have a huge film career and has recently returned to his music with a big UK tour.

He is playing festivals and open-air gigs around Europe before heading to Scarborough, Cardiff, Manchester, London, and Wolverhampton.

Then, the Hitch icon is headlining the TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre on Sunday, August 24 – a venue that has hosted the likes of Gary Barlow, Busted, Westlife, and Snow Patrol.

This coincides with a new album, Based on a True Story which will be the actor’s first since 2005 and is set to be released later this month.