Kathy Griffin appears to be reigniting her long-standing feud with Will Smith, DailyMail reports.
According to the report by DailyMail, the controversial comedian, Kathy Griffin, 64, claimed the actor gave her the cold shoulder when they worked together decades ago—years before she would go on to slam him for his infamous Oscar slap.
During Tuesday’s episode of her Talk Your Head Off podcast, the actress recalled her early days in Hollywood when she landed a guest role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1990.
But according to Kathy Griffin, Smith, then a rising star, completely ignored her until the moment they filmed.
‘This was the first big gig I had,’ she said, adding, ‘He did not talk to me until show day.’
Griffin explained that the episode was shot before The Fresh Prince had even premiered, at a time when Smith was primarily known as a rapper.
She explained that Smith had ‘ignored her all week because he’s launching a gigantic show.’
‘When 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.’
While she acknowledged the pressure Smith was under as the face of a brand-new show, she claimed he was distant all week, only warming up when cameras rolled.
‘He really took his time to kind of get to know me a little bit,’ she said. ‘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.’
The resurfaced tension between Kathy Griffin and Smith follows years of her publicly dragging him over the 2022 Oscars controversy, when he stormed the stage and slapped Chris Rock.
Ahead of the 2024 Academy Awards, Kathy Griffin reignited her criticism by posting a throwback clip of Joan Rivers slapping her during a roast, joking, ‘Joan and I walked so Chris and Will could run… my jaw still hurts.’
At the time of the Oscars incident, she also issued a warning about the fallout for comedians.
Taking to X, she wrote, ‘Let me tell you something, it’s a very bad practice to walk up on stage and physically assault a comedian.
‘Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.’
With her latest claims, it seems Griffin isn’t ready to let go of her long-running beef with the Oscar winner anytime soon.