WILL SMITH released footage of an emotional talk with Janet Hubert filmed backstage on the recent Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air reunion.
The pair ended their 27-year feud during the HBO Max special on Thursday November 19, 2020 – but what happened between Smith and Janet nearly three decades ago?
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What happened between Will Smith and Janet Hubert?
Janet Hubert, who played Aunt Viv, mysyeriously vanished from the show at the end of Season 3 in 1993.
In an interview with an Atlanta radio station in 1993, Will Smith publicly attacked Janet and said: “I can say straight up that Janet Hubert wanted the show to be The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air Show because I know she is going to dog me in the press.
“She has basically gone from a quarter of a million dollars a year to nothing. She’s mad now but she’s been mad all along.
“She said once, ‘I’ve been in the business for 10 years and this snotty-nosed punk comes along and gets a show.’ No matter what, to her I’m just the Antichrist.”
But Hubert criticised the show and expressed her dislike for Will Smith in interviews as their public feud played out.
She even swore that she would never appear in a reunion episode, and according to TMZ she said: “There will never be a reunion…as I will never do anything with an a—hole like Will Smith.
“He is still an egomaniac and has not grown up. This constant reunion thing will never ever happen in my lifetime unless there is an apology, which he doesn’t know the word.”
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When did Janet Hubert play Aunt Viv on Fresh Prince of Bel Air?
Janet Hubert played the character of Vivian Banks or ‘Aunt Viv’ on the show from its first season in 1990 until the end of the third season in 1993.
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However, her character Aunt Viv lived on and was re-cast as actress Daphne Maxwell Reid.
Smith always said the pair had creative differences and she was difficult to work, wichn then smeared Huberts reputation.
But the real reason why she left the show was kept secret for 27 years – until now.
In the footage not aired on the HBO Max reunion, Janet told Smith: “I hated what you did. I just hated what you did. You took my career away of 30-something years,’ she said, struggling not to cry.
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“You just went too far when you were younger and I know you always had to win,” she said, referring to the way her professionalism was smeared during the feud.”
Smith responded: “I could not do a 30-year celebration of this show and not celebrate you, celebrate your contribution and celebrate your contribution to my life.
“The person I want to be is someone who protects you, not someone who unleashes dark on you.”
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When did the Red Table Talk happen?
The Red Table talk was released on Friday November 20, 2020 – two days after the HBO Max reunion show aired.
The special edition of Red Table Talk showed never-seen before footage of the confrontation between the two as Will Smith explained more about the couples now infamous row.
Clinical psychologist Ramani Durvasula was also on hand at the scene.
Red Table Talk is an American web television talk show starringn Will Smiths wife Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, and Adrienne Banfield-Norris.
Red Table Talk said that it provides “a forum where the perspectives of three different generations on a wide variety of topics are shared.”
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Why did Will Smith and Janet Hubert fall out?
For years, people believed that Janet was sacked from the show in 1993, but in the reunion show, she revealed that this isn’t actually true.
She chose to leave the show as she was pregnant and having problems in her home life, whilst also experiencing friction with Will Smith on set.
Alongside that, her salary was also cut, forcing her to leave.
During the reunion show she said: “There was some friction between Will and I…because I was pregnant. Home life was not good at all.
“I was no longer laughing, smiling, joking because there were things going on that nobody knew about.”
At the time, fans of the show weren’t best pleased about the change of actress, with Janet being a well-loved part of the show.
The reason given by Will for Janet’s departure at the time was that she was ‘difficult to work with’ and the pair had ‘creative differences’, but there always seemed to be a lot more to it than that.
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