Will Smith was meant to take part in a performance celebrating 50 years of hip-hop at the Grammys (Picture: Jim Spellman/WireImage)

Will Smith was supposed to swing by the Grammys on Sunday night for a surprise appearance.

The actor was meant to take part in a performance celebrating 50 years of hip-hop alongside his former bandmate DJ Jazzy Jeff, but work conflicts meant they ‘had to lose him’.

Questlove made the reveal at the star-studded ceremony, saying that production on Bad Boys 4 got in the way of 54-year-old Will’s performance.

On the night, Questlove, real name Ahmir Khalib Thompson, took to the stage with his band The Roots alongside the likes of Jazzy Jeff, Queen Latifah and Miss Elliot to celebrate the genre.

He said of Will’s absence: ‘I’ll give the spoiler alert away. Will Smith was a part of the festivities tonight, but they started shooting Bad Boys 4 already this week.’

Questlove, 52, curated the tribute at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards and speaking to Variety ahead on the event’s red carpet, he added: ‘There’s a lot of preliminary shots that he had to do, so we had to lose Will.’

Will was a no-show due to work conflicts (Picture: Matt Baron/BEI/REX/Shutterstock)

Questlove made the reveal at the star-studded ceremony, saying that production on Bad Boys 4 got in the way of 54-year-old Will’s performance (Picture: Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

‘It was a shot in the dark. He’s always shooting movies. We had a lot of people and some of them have other jobs,’ Questlove continued.

‘There was a lot of legit reasons why we couldn’t be all inclusive of some people.’

If the actor had appeared at the ceremony, it would have been the first time Will and Questlove had collaborated since the former famously slapped Chris Rock on stage at last year’s Oscars.

The incident happened moments before Questlove scooped the best documentary gong for his film Summer of Soul.

Questlove, 52, curated the tribute at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards (Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Will and his Bad Boys co-star Martin Lawrence confirmed last month that a fourth instalment is on its way (Picture: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

Will and his Bad Boys co-star Martin Lawrence confirmed last month that a fourth instalment is on its way.

Three years after we last saw Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett on the big screen, the Hollywood icons confirmed that they will be tackling crime once again.

In a video shared on both their respective Instagram pages, Will could be seen driving himself to his pal’s home, teasing a bombshell.

‘Yo! I’ve got an announcement. Y’all better stop scrolling, seriously,’ he yelled.

‘Let me give y’all a hint,’ he said before playing Shake Ya Tailfeather – from the soundtrack to Bad Boys 2 played out.

‘I wish I was you, not knowing what I’m about to show me,’ he added.

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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor then left his car and knocked on an inconspicuous door, which was opened by none other than Martin, who yelled: ‘It’s about that time!’

‘It’s official y’all! Bad Boys for Life. FOUR,’ they screamed to the camera, while bickering over the title.

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A dang shame.