Now this is a story all about how\u2026<\/p>\n
Janet Hubert shared an update about her 30-year feud with her former \u201cFresh Prince of Bel-Air\u201d co-star Will Smith on \u201cThe Big Tigger Show\u2019s\u201d <\/a>radio station. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so good,\u201d Hubert, 69, said, in response to a question from Atlanta radio station, V-103, about if she and Smith, 56, have a cordial relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n Will Smith as William \u2018Will\u2019 Smith, Janet Hubert as Vivian Banks on \u201cThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.\u201d NBCUniversal via Getty Images<\/p>\n Janet Hubert during her interview on Tuesday. V-103 Atlanta\/Youtube<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n The actress left in 1993, and was replaced by Daphne Maxwell Reid.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI can say straight up that Janet Hubert wanted the show to be \u2018The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air Show,\u2019\u201d Smith told an Atlanta radio station shortly after her departure,\u00a0per Complex<\/a>. \u201cShe\u2019s mad now but she\u2019s been mad all along.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2011, Smith posted on social media about a cast reunion, and Hubert told TMZ <\/a>at the time, \u201cThere will never be a reunion \u2026 as I will never do anything with an a\u2014\u2014 like Will Smith.\u201d<\/p>\n She called him an, \u201cegomaniac\u201d who \u201chas not grown up\u201d and said that he owed her an \u201capology.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Karyn Parsons as Hilary Banksm, Tatyana Ali as Ashley Banks, Alfonso Ribeiro as Carlton Banks, Joseph Marcell as Geoffrey, Janet Hubert as Vivian Banks, (middle) Alfonso Ribeiro as Carlton Banks, (front) Will Smith as William \u2018Will\u2019 Smith. NBCUniversal via Getty Images<\/p>\n Janet Hubert and Will Smith in a 2024 Instagram photo. willsmith\/Instagram<\/p>\n In 2020, Hubert and Smith reunited during the show\u2019s HBO Max 30-year reunion special, and addressed their bitter fallout.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe never publicly talk about Janet and what happened, and for me it felt like I couldn\u2019t celebrate 30 years of \u2018Fresh Prince\u2019 without finding a way to celebrate Janet,\u201d Smith said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The \u201cMen in Black\u201d star added, \u201cSo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Will Smith attends the Capital Summertime Ball 2025 at Wembley Stadium on June 15, 2025 in London, England. WireImage<\/p>\n James Avery as Philip Banks; Tatyana Ali as Ashley Banks; Karyn Parsons as Hilary Banks; Joseph Marcell as Geoffrey; Will Smith as William \u2018Will\u2019 Smith; Janet Hubert as Vivian Banks. NBCUniversal via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know your story,\u201d Smith said to Hubert, during the 2020 special.\u00a0<\/p>\n She claimed that she wasn\u2019t fired from \u201cThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey offered me this really bad deal in the third season. They said, \u2018You\u2019ve got two months and two weeks of work and you cannot work anywhere else.\u2019 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Hubert noted she was \u201ctrapped\u201d and \u201churt\u201d when they recast the role, and by the way that Smith spoke about her after her exit.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI lost everything \u2014 reputation, everything \u2014 and I understand you were able to move forward, but you know those words \u2014 calling a Black woman difficult in Hollywood is the kiss of death,\u201d Hubert said to the Oscar winner.\u00a0<\/p>\n Janet Hubert as Vivian Banks, Will Smith as William \u2018Will\u2019 Smith in \u201cThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.\u201d NBCUniversal via Getty Images<\/p>\n Smith replied, \u201cI didn\u2019t know that. When I look back now it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe person I want to be is someone who protects you, not someone that unleashes dogs on you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n She also revealed that at the time, she was going through a \u201cvery abusive marriage,\u201d which contributed to their problems on set.\u00a0<\/p>\n Smith replied, \u201cI have children, I\u2019ve been divorced, I\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Will Smith as William \u2018Will\u2019 Smith, Janet Hubert as Vivian Banks in \u201cThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.\u201d NBCUniversal via Getty Images<\/p>\n During her interview on Tuesday, Hubert shared that Smith has since created a website for her independent animated feature \u201cJG and the BC Kids<\/a>,\u201d to help her promote it.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2022, Hubert also defended Smith after he infamously slapped Chris Rock<\/a> at the Oscars that year. <\/p>\n