Rhianna Benson
He's always up for a laugh - but if there's one thing Will Arnett won't stand for, it's 'a**hole' behaviour.
Appearing on British funny-man Romesh Ranganathan's titular podcast this week, the Canadian-American actor revealed he once hosted a big-name comedian on his own show, but was forced to show them the door mid-pod.
55-year-old Arnett has presented the SmartLess podcast alongside fellow Hollywood stars Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes since 2020.
While the show predominantly focuses on the lives of the much-loved trio, they often invite a like-minded celebrity or two to discuss film, family, friendship and everything in between.
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Such was apparently the case some years earlier, when the team managed to lineup a 'very famous comedian', who the Arrested Development actor claims failed to live up to their almighty reputation.
Chatting to Ranganathan last week (26 January) to promote his own professional project, Is This Thing On? - in which he plays a rising stand-up comedian, loosely inspired by the life of Liverpool-local John Bishop - Arnett began of said star: "We cut him off after 10 minutes and said, 'Thanks so much'."
He claimed he, Bateman and Hayes 'then ditched him', describing the individual in question as a 'f*****g rank a**hole'.
Though the Blades of Glory actor refused to reveal the name of the comedian, he told 47-year-old Ranganathan he'd 'tell [him] after', adding that he'd be 'blown away' to find out.
Leaving the presenter in stitches, Arnett went on to joke: "Cause you'll be like, 'How did you get Bill Cosby?'"
He also revealed, however, that this incident was far from a one off on the SmartLess podcast.
The second culprit, the Toronto-born star explained, was a female comic, who'd apparently asked that they not release the podcast after they'd recorded it, in fear that she'd come across wrong.
"We had a guest, a comedian, she asked us to not air her episode," Arnett continued. "We were like, 'F**k, it cost us money, and the guys, we all had to do it.' She was worried because she thought that she was up-and-coming."
"We were like, 'You're good'," he laughed. "And turns out, we were right."
Fans have since shared their thoughts on Arnett's recent comments, with one writing: "I’ve been a fan since day one and I’m SO CURIOUS!"
A second added: "I don't listen to smartless or follow comics but I need to know what comedian Will Arnett doesn't like."
Someone else commented: "Dang! I want to know the details!"