Janet Hubert Reveals She Lost “Everything” After ‘Fresh Prince’ Exit
During the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” reunion special on HBO Max that is currently available on the streamer, we finally got to see Will Smith end his longtime feud with the original “Aunt Viv” actress, Janet Hubert.
Before the conversation began, both Smith and Hubert acknowledged in separate confessionals that they had issues on set back in the day: “During that third season, when I got pregnant, there was a lot of things going on in my life and Will’s life as well. There was some friction because I was pregnant. Home life was not good at all,” explained Hubert. “I was no longer laughing, smiling, joking because there were things going on nobody knew about. The cast had no idea what was going on.” Smith then admitted he “wasn’t sensitive” to her situation and explained, “I wasn’t perceptive and now that I’ve had three kids I’ve learned some things I did not know at the time and I would do things very differently,” he said to the camera. “I can see why I made the set very difficult for Janet.”
Hubert, who was replaced with Daphne Maxwell Reid before the show’s fourth season 27 years ago said that she was offered a “really bad deal,” where she would only work for two months and two weeks and couldn’t work anywhere else. “That meant my salary was cut, I had a new baby and a husband who was out of work. I said no,” she said. “I did not accept their offer. I was never fired. The misconception was always put out there. I was trapped, what could I do.” As Hubert and Will finally greeted each other, Hubert shared that she was “hurt deeply, deeply” over the replacement. She began their conversation by asking him a question that had been on her mind for years: “I just wanted to know one thing, why? Why so far? You guys went so far, I lost so much,” she said. “How do we heal?”
Hubert went on to explain to Will, who didn’t know of her struggles: “When I left the show, I had this new baby and no one. Family disowned me, Hollywood disowned me, my family said you’ve ruined our name and I wasn’t unprofessional on the set,” she said to Smith. “I just stopped talking to everybody because I didn’t know who to trust, I had been banished. They said it was you who banished me. Because you were Will, you were a kid. It was hard.” She added, “You didn’t realize I was going through a lot at home. You didn’t know,” she said, before claiming she was in a “very abusive marriage.”
While recalling the days where Will Smith used to publicly bash her, Hubert said:
“You took all of that away from me, with your words. Words can kill. I lost everything. Reputation, everything, everything,” she continued. “I understand you were able to move forward, but you know those words, calling a Black woman difficult in Hollywood is the kiss of death. It’s hard enough when you a dark-skinned Black woman in this business.”
Despite all of their bad history, it was important for her that they move forward. While apologizing for bashing each other in the media, Will said:
“First of all, thank you for sharing that with me. I didn’t know what. When I look back now, it’s obvious you were having a hard time and I felt like you hated me,” he replied. “I could not do a 30-year celebration of this show and not celebrate you. Celebrate your contribution to this show and celebrate your contribution to my life.”
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