Now this is a story all about how…
Janet Hubert shared an update about her 30-year feud with her former “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” co-star Will Smith on “The Big Tigger Show’s” radio station.
“It’s so good,” Hubert, 69, said, in response to a question from Atlanta radio station, V-103, about if she and Smith, 56, have a cordial relationship.
In the show, which aired on NBC from 1990 to 1996, Smith played a version of himself while Hubert played Vivian Banks, also known as Aunt Viv.
The actress left in 1993, and was replaced by Daphne Maxwell Reid.
“I can say straight up that Janet Hubert wanted the show to be ‘The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air Show,’” Smith told an Atlanta radio station shortly after her departure, per Complex. “She’s mad now but she’s been mad all along.”
In 2011, Smith posted on social media about a cast reunion, and Hubert told TMZ at the time, “There will never be a reunion … as I will never do anything with an a—— like Will Smith.”
She called him an, “egomaniac” who “has not grown up” and said that he owed her an “apology.”
In 2020, Hubert and Smith reunited during the show’s HBO Max 30-year reunion special, and addressed their bitter fallout.
“We never publicly talk about Janet and what happened, and for me it felt like I couldn’t celebrate 30 years of ‘Fresh Prince’ without finding a way to celebrate Janet,” Smith said.
The “Men in Black” star added, “So she agreed to sit down and have a conversation with me, and Janet and I saw one another for the first time in 27 years yesterday.”
“I don’t know your story,” Smith said to Hubert, during the 2020 special.
She claimed that she wasn’t fired from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
“They offered me this really bad deal in the third season. They said, ‘You’ve got two months and two weeks of work and you cannot work anywhere else.’ So that meant my salary was cut. I had a new baby and a husband who was out of work, so I said no. I did not accept their offer.”
Hubert noted she was “trapped” and “hurt” when they recast the role, and by the way that Smith spoke about her after her exit.
“I lost everything — reputation, everything — and 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,” Hubert said to the Oscar winner.
Smith replied, “I didn’t know that. When I look back now it’s obvious that you were having a hard time and I felt like you hated me. I could not do a 30-year celebration of this show and not celebrate you, celebrate your contribution to the show, celebrate your contribution to my life.”
“The person I want to be is someone who protects you, not someone that unleashes dogs on you.”
She also revealed that at the time, she was going through a “very abusive marriage,” which contributed to their problems on set.
Smith replied, “I have children, I’ve been divorced, I’ve had a second marriage. And I can see now the level of pain and the level of struggle that it was for you just to show up every day.”
During her interview on Tuesday, Hubert shared that Smith has since created a website for her independent animated feature “JG and the BC Kids,” to help her promote it.
In 2022, Hubert also defended Smith after he infamously slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars that year.
“So PROUD OF YOU!” she posted on Instagram after Smith, 53, accepted his Best Actor honors for playing Richard Williams, father and coach to tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams.
Addressing the slap, she said, “There is only so much one can take… sometimes you have to slap back. Celebrate the win… nothing else matters. Both actions were incorrect but Chris didn’t need to go there.”
