Will Smith's Unforgettable Butter Knife Surgery: A Bizarre Tale from the 'Class of '88' Podcast
In the latest episode of his new podcast, “Class of ’88,” Will Smith takes a nostalgic trip down memory lane, recounting the time he tried to saw the cast off DJ Jazzy Jeff’s leg with butter knives while rushing to complete a record.
According to the Academy Award-winner, it all went down in 1987 at a London hotel room where the duo had been working on their new album for Jive Records. The two were allegedly “under pressure” to create a hit song “quickly.” However, just before they arrived, Jazzy Jeff had broken his leg in a car accident.
“So when we finally arrived in our hotel, Jeff was in a full-length cast from his hip to his ankle,” Smith shared before Jeff cut in with, “I probably should have gotten the cast off before we left to go make the album, but I didn't so I was way past due of this cast coming off to the point that the filling inside the cast started to irritate my kneecap — which is the reason Will kinda came up with this brilliant idea of ‘I can get your cast off.”
Jeff said with Smith’s plan, “They bring up 24 butter knives, and he proceeds to saw, and he kind of gets it to the point that the cast starts to split.” From there, Smith explained, “So, I had been sawing the cast from the top, which, I guess, isn't medically recommended, so the cast got stuck maybe halfway down Jeff's leg.”
The “King Richard” star later suggested Jeff sit in the tub to “soften,” however, Jeff revealed, “It started to shrink, so now it's choking my leg.” He added, “And it really didn't help that through the entire process, he's laughing. And I'm freaking out. I'm wet, in my underwear, with a cast up to my ankle.”
The pair eventually got help from who appeared to be Jeremy “JL” Lam, a friend of Jam Master Jay’s family, who used the jagged edge from a beef stew can to finish the job. “He was using the jagged edge of the can top, and he went straight down; where I was trying to saw vertically, he went horizontally,” Smith said. Roughly seven minutes later, the cast was off.
“Luckily, I didn't end up putting Jeff back in the hospital, which was helpful because we had a lot of music to deliver — and fast,” the actor said of the ordeal.
Two years later, Smith and Jeff went on to win “Best Rap Performance” for “Parent Just Don’t Understand” at the 31st annual Grammy Award.
