Will Smith is reuniting with all of the cast members of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” including Janet Hubert.
In a Sept. 10 Instagram, Smith made an announcement that made fans of the iconic TV show go crazy. In a carousel post, Smith’s first picture shows him taking a selfie with all of the cast members in what appears to be the old living room set of the show. The picture shows everyone posing, all with big smiles, giving fans a glimpse of how they’ve all grown up in the last 30 years.
Smith’s caption for the post reads, “Today is exactly 30 YEARS since The @FreshPrince of Bel-Air debuted! So we’re doing something for ya’ll…a for real Banks Family Reunion is comin’ soon to @HBOmax! RIP James. #FreshPrince30th”
But that was not the only good news fans got from the post. The second picture of the carousel post shows Will Smith sitting with Janet Hubert in today’s time. The post shows the two smiling and looking at each other, and it looks like the photo was captured mid conversation.
This comes as a surprise to fans because this is not the first time that the cast members have reunited publicly; however, this is the first time they have seen Hubert included in the reunion. Viewers of the show have not seen Hubert in the same vicinity as Smith or the other cast members since her highly talked-about replacement after season 3.
Fans and celebrities alike celebrated the reunion in the comments. But most of the comments were of fans showing their excitement to see “the original Aunt Viv” in the photos.
Female rapper Lil Mama commented, “Wowwww peace…I’m so happy to see Will reunited with the original Aunt VIV as well.”
One fan said, “The dark skinned aunt viv need a red table talk her d*mn self”.
Another IG user jokingly commented, “Aunt Viv gotta do the ballet set for the culture!!!”
Although the reasoning behind Hubert’s replacement has never fully been clear, gossip revealed the two did not get along too well. It was rumored that Hubert would have angry outbursts on set and that there were some disagreements about her contract.
This rumor seemed to align with a statement Smith made on an Atlanta radio show in 1993.
He 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.”
Hubert has always denied the allegations that she was ever hard to work with. In 2016, she appeared as a guest on “The Real Daytime” talk show and was asked by one of the show’s hosts, Loni Love, what happened on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Hubert replied, “Janet Hubert was never difficult on that show. Janet Hubert was so professional, it wasn’t even funny. I think Will simply needed to win.”
In the past, Hubert also has expressed how hard it was to get work after being fired from the show.
What doesn’t seem to be clear in this exciting announcement is whether Hubert will be reunited with the other cast members as well. The picture appears to show Hubert in a completely different room with Smith, than what was shown in the first picture.
In addition to this announcement, fans learned on Tuesday that a reboot of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” is in the works.
The show, which was named “Bel-Air,” will be coming to NBC’s streaming platform, Peacock, in 2021.
