SmartLess host Will Arnett revealed that he once had to kick a comedian off his Golden Globe-nominated podcast 10 minutes into their conversation.
“One other very famous comedian, who I’ll tell you after, was a f—ing rank a–hole recently,” Arnett, 55, said in a new interview. “We cut him off after 10 minutes and said, ‘Thanks so much.’ And then ditched him.”
On “The Ramesh Ranganathan Show,” Arnett let slip that he had to remove a certain difficult comedian from his podcast. YouTube/screengrab
Arnett, who hosts SmartLess alongside Jason Bateman, 57, and Sean Hayes, 55, said people would be “blown away” by who it was, but refused to let the name slip.
“We had a guest, a comedian, and she asked us to not air her episode at all,” the Arrested Development actor added. Arnett initially pushed back, citing the cost and manpower burden of recording the episode, but eventually relented.
“She was worried because she thought she was up-and-coming, and I won’t tell you until we’re absolutely cut, but we were like, ‘You’re good.’ And turns out we were right,” Arnett said.
Arnett says he kicked a comedian off his podcast after just 10 minutes for being a “f—ing rank a–hole.” John Nacion/Getty Images for Searchlight Pictures
In 2020, Arnett, Bateman, and Hayes began recording episodes of the podcast while at home during the pandemic. The show’s format sees one host inviting a guest unknown to the other two hosts beforehand.
In December, the podcast received a nomination for the Golden Globe Awards’ inaugural Best Podcast award, but the trio lost to Amy Poehler, Arnett’s ex-wife.
The podcast released its 291st episode on Monday, featuring an interview with Charlie XCX. Bateman, who met Arnett while working on Arrested Development, came under fire for pressing the musician on her decision not to have children.
In the awkward back-and-forth, Bateman asked the pop star if she wanted to have “more than one kid.”
“I actually don’t really want to have kids,” Charlie XCX said.
“I love the fantasy of having a child—like naming it sounds so fun. But I’m like, that is exactly a sign to me as to why I should not have one. The fact that that feels like the coolest part about it, I’m like, maybe I’m not ready,” she explained.
But Bateman persisted.
SmartLess came close to winning the inaugural Golden Globe for Best Podcast, but lost out to Arnett’s ex-wife Amy Poehler. Rich Polk/2026GG/Penske Media via Getty Images
“All that could change,” Bateman said, if she “meets the right guy.”
Unfortunately for Bateman, his show’s surprise guest format worked against him. As the pop star was Hayes’s guest, Bateman hadn’t done any prior research, leading to the awkward realization that Charlie XCX was already married.
The Grammy-winning singer married The 1975 band drummer George Daniel last year. Awkward.
Sensing the awkwardness, Bateman quickly added, “Oh. I gotta read a newspaper one of these days.”
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