The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (which ran from 1990-1996) has experienced a surge in popularity over the past couple of years as the kids of today reconnect with the classic Will Smith sitcom (there's a sentence we never thought we'd write) and thirty-somethings get nostalgic for it. Teens love the Carlton dance. They like the wit of the show. And frankly, it just made for good viewing. Most of us remember it fondly. However, there was definitely some behind the scenes turmoil, mainly with the original actress who portrayed Smith's Aunt Vivian, Janet Hubert. Hubert portrayed "Aunt Viv" for the first three seasons of the show, and left due to a contract dispute. However, since that time, both Will Smith and co-star Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton Banks) have feuded with Hubert in public, and the rumour goes that it started back in the day behind the scenes. Hubert has gone so far as to blame Smith for her dismissal from the show in comments made in 2011, but even she has admitted that NBC wanted her to sign a contract that would prevent her from working outside of the series, something she wasn't willing to do. What more was there than just the contract? At SUNY College in 2009, during a campus visit where he talked about the show, Ribeiro had this to say about Hubert: "I had an amazing time working with Will, with Tatyana, and James and Karyn. Everybody was great. First mom. Not so much. Legally Im not allowed to talk about it, but hey, why not. Basically, at the end of the day, ------- (Ribeiro actually makes a bleep noise) was CRAZY!... She went nuts. There were days when we were on the set and she would literally go off on people and it got to a point when the second season came around that we were like this is unacceptable. We felt like, when we were doing the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, that we were a family. We spent more time with each other than we ever did any of our other family members. We would go on vacation together. We would hang out. I moved out of my parents house so that I could hang out with the cast members... Thats how much we loved each other." He did go on to call her a very talented actress. Meanwhile, Hubert has continued to fan the flames, saying she would love to reunite with the cast but not until she gets an apology from Smith, who she once called an "egomaniac" who "needs to grow up." Her tune softened just a little in 2013, as she told TheGrio I would say to him, we need to heal this. Youve done some things, youve said some things, that were totally untrue and you know that they were untrue. Ive said some things that I probably should have never said. But youve never heard them come from my mouth. Especially the TMZ thing last Christmas; my Mom passed away. So there I was again in the media getting beaten upand you get tired. Im tired. Arent you tired Will? Of course, that was after attacking talk show host Wendy Williams in an open letter after Williams had former Fresh Prince cast member Tatyana Ali on her show, telling Williams that she was "such a demon Wendy. You are wicked, awful, conniving, sinister, spiteful, jealous of every other woman. Simply put, Wendy you are a virus." Looks like Alfonso was onto something.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
