Remember the two Aunt Vivs on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air? Many people probably didn't give the replacement of seasons one through three actress Janet Hubert a second thought at the time.
In the years since, we've learned that there was some serious drama there. Janet left the show citing "creative differences." As we now know it, it was more of a feud between her and Will. It has sometimes played out in public in the years since.
Will recently reunited with the sitcom's cast in celebration of the show's 30th anniversary. But before he could celebrate, he felt the need to set things straight once and for all.
Will took over wife Jada Pinkett Smith's Red Table Talk to hash things out with Janet. Will learned a lot he didn't know about the situation, both as a young professional and a young man. With the knowledge and benefit of hindsight, he and Janet found common ground and an ability to put their differences behind them.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was one of the greatest sitcoms of the '90s. In celebrating its 30th anniversary, the cast has reunited for a special with HBO Max. However, there was one cast member many were speculating wouldn't be part of it.
Janet Hubert played Will's aunt, Vivian Banks, through the show's first three seasons. She was then replaced with little public explanation. It was said that there were "creative differences" between Janet and the show's team, but there was much more to it than that.
It wasn't long after Janet left the show that Will appeared on an Atlanta radio show and took a dig at her.
"I can say straight up that Janet Hubert wanted the show to be The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air show. She's mad now but she's been mad all along," he candidly said.
"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."
Comments between Janet and Will, as well as other Fresh Prince cast members, were exchanged through the media over the years. It wasn't until social media really took over that the heat got turned up. Perez Hilton shared footage of a standup set by Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Carlton Banks, two years prior.
"She went nuts! Long story short, and there were days when we were all on the set and she would literally go off on people and they got to a point by the time the second season came around where we're like, 'This is unacceptable,'" he said.
"We felt like, when we were doing The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, that we were a family … She, at that point, ruined that, and she made it very difficult for us to work, and unfortunately, she was then fired."
Janet also continued to take her shots publicly. In 2010, she accused Will of making colorist remarks to her on the set of the show.
"I was a dark-skinned, African-American mother, and Will used to tell the you're-so-black jokes to the audience before the show, and at one point, I came out and stopped him," she told Black America Web.
"He didn't understand how unbelievably disrespectful that was to women like me."
In 2011, after she was asked about a reunion photo Will had posted with some cast members, she lashed out.
"There will never be a reunion … as I will never do anything with a [expletive] like Will Smith," she said.
"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."
A few years have certainly changed things. Will and Janet reunited for the HBO Max special. They also sat down for a conversation for Red Table Talk, where they got to the bottom of things.
Will explained that he was an obnoxious 21-year-old with a great deal of success and that sometimes the set was more of a party atmosphere than a professional one. This was one of the first areas where he bumped heads with Janet, a seasoned professional.
Janet's role was reduced in the third season as things got tenser on set.
"They offered me this really bad deal in the third season to, I think, sort of put me in my place," Janet recalled.
"So I said no."
In season four, Janet was replaced by Daphne Maxwell Reid. It was shortly thereafter that Will and Janet's ugly feud started going public. Will shared a particularly painful clip of a 2018 video Janet made slamming him and his lies, where she said she regretted ever taking the role and having to work with someone like him.
Their conversation marked the first time they had spoken in 27 years. It began with Janet asking why Will and the others went so far out of the way to slam her and cause her so much pain. He began by acknowledging he wasn't sure where this all started, either.
"I don't know your story," he said.
"I know, you have no idea. It was insane," she replied.
Janet went on to explain that she'd been banished from certain areas of the set, allowed to sit only in her dressing room. When she asked why, she was told it was because Will didn't want her around. The bad deal in season three was the final straw.
"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,'" she said.
"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."
She went on to tell Will that the rumors he'd started about her, willingly or unwillingly, had cost her her home, her career, and so much more.
"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," she said.
"And it's hard enough being a dark-skinned Black woman in this business."
Janet did acknowledge that there was no way for Will to know what her home life was like and what she dealt with behind the scenes.
"You guys didn't know I was in a very abusive marriage," she shared.
"I had a new baby, he was three months old. I felt like there was no sanctuary anywhere for me. My family disowned me. The black community disowned me … It just never goes away."
Will thanked her for giving him a better idea of what he didn't know.
"First of all, thank you for sharing that with me," he said.
"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."
"I have children, I've been divorced, I've had a second marriage," he continued.
"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.
"The person I want to be is someone who protects you, not someone that unleashes dogs on you."
The two exchanged apologies as the tears flowed.
"I have to say, after 27 years, being here today and having the conversation that Will and I had together — it's healing," she said later in a solo interview.
"I didn't come here to have animosity, I came here to resolve, 'cause it's time."
