Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Will Smith Makes Awards Comeback at Grammys to Celebrate Quincy Jones After Oscar Night Incident

Will Smith made his big awards show comeback after three years away.

Breaking his awards show silence since the Chris Rock Oscars incident, Smith took the stage to introduce the star-studded Quincy Jones tribute, featuring Cynthia Erivo with Herbie Hancock, Lainey Wilson, and Stevie Wonder.

“This past year we lost one of the most groundbreaking and influential figures of our times, Quincy Jones,” Smith shared, honoring the legendary 28-time Grammy winner who passed away last November from pancreatic cancer.

https://twitter.com/THR/status/1886254128705249624

Going deeper, Smith shared, “In his 91 years, Q touched countless lives. But I have to say he changed mine forever. You probably wouldn’t even know who Will Smith was if it wasn’t for Quincy Jones.”

Smith then dropped a powerful story about his mentor and father figure from his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air days, which Jones executive produced.

He recalled how Q pulled 22-year-old Will off set to call him out about the weak snack game for the cast and crew.

“[Quincy] said, ‘So, let me get this straight. You want these people to work 16 or 18 hours a day so you can realize your dreams, and this is the food you think they should eat?'” Smith remembered. “He said, ‘I don’t care if it’s not in the budget, you pay for it out of your own pocket.'”

“He said something to me that became the absolute center of how I wanted to have my career, how I wanted to live my life. He looked right in my face and he said, ‘It is your job to take care of these people.’ And I’ve done everything I can through my career to try to live up to Quincy’s demand,” he shared.

Smith celebrated Jones as someone who lived to lift others up, comparing his spirit to a feast that fed everyone around him. The tribute wrapped with Janelle Monáe performing Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.”

This marked Smith’s first awards show since that wild 2022 Oscars night when he slapped Chris Rock after the comedian cracked jokes about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head – which was caused by alopecia. Will famously yelled “Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth” before the slap heard ’round the world.

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