Two original beloved black sitcom mothers, Janet Hubert and Jo Marie Payton, were spotted hanging out together showing nothing but smiles on their faces.
A TikTok video posted by @pantha226 showed the two ladies hand in hand as they were talking to each other while voices appeared from the background noting how beautiful both ladies still are.
“Look how beautiful those ladies look, aren’t they beautiful? Just so beautiful,” one voice spoke as Hubert and Payton laughed in unison.
While many fans commented in agreement on the pair’s glistening beauty, a lot of fans didn’t hesitate to bring up each woman’s experience surrounding being replaced on their iconic TV shows by lighter-skinned women.
“The mama’s that got kicked off for light skinned women, both were the best tv moms.”
“The originals can never be duplicated!”
“MY beautiful dark skinned tv moms”
Hubert starred as Aunt Vivian Banks on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” from 1990 until the end of its third season in 1993. While she was labeled as “hard to work with” after her exit from the show — which she claimed was an intricate part in her getting blackballed in Hollywood — the Chicago native revealed she had been lowballed on her contract deal, causing her to leave.
Hubert’s character was quickly replaced by actress Daphne Maxwell Reid as the fourth season premiered in 1993.
During the show’s 30th reunion in 2020, Hubert and Maxwell were seen together with the rest of the cast members where they all discussed their time on the show, and where Hubert finally ended her 27-year feud with “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” star Will Smith.
As for Payton, she left her notorious role as Harriet Winslow on “Family Matters” just halfway through the show’s ninth and final season in 1997. Her character was replaced by “The Players Club” actress Judyann Elder for the remainder of the show.
Although many believed her reasoning for leaving was due to the storyline’s main focus being on popular character Steve Urkle portrayed by Jaleel White, in 2010, Payton said she simply wanted to move on to different projects.
“I just wanted something else to do, just to energize me a little bit more, on the creative side.” she said to TV Series Finale.
Payton, along with her TV family, Reginald VelJohnson, Darius McCray, and Kellie Williams, recently reunited in May for “90’s Con” in Hartford, Connecticut, where they discussed a potential “Family Matters” reboot.
Although no reboot has been set in stone for the Winslow family, Williams and McCray have reunited to star as siblings once again in a new Christmas movie titled “Christmas In Carolina.”
Payton and Hubert’s characters have touched hearts throughout the years and have made people feel connected to them as if they were individuals who were part of one’s own family.
