All About Laughs
Fresh Prince breakout star Alfonso Ribeiro won the world over playing lovable cousin Carlton Banks. He and lead actor Will Smith’s infection chemistry and witty banter made them must see television during the shows groundbreaking run. In the years since, rumors of reunions and the occasional call back to their hit show have kept fans pretty entertained. Ribeiro has gone on to do many other things, including hosting America’s Funniest Videos. He recently did an interview where he reminisced on his career and opened up about not feeling fully supported by black fans despite the show being such a landmark for African Americans.
The cast of Fresh Prince officially reunited this past fall much to fans enjoyment. The reunion brought together all of the original cast including actress Janet Hubert, who played Aunt Viv during the shows initial run. Hubert has been candid in the 20 years since the show ended about how much of the cast has disregarded her flat out abandoned her, with her and Will Smith not speaking for almost 2 decades.
The reunion streamed on HBO Max and was a hit with fans, sharing tending moments and memories, and paying tribute to Uncle Phil actor James Avery who passed in 2013. Speaking on the reunion, Hubert said I am so thankful for all the love being shown and the understanding.” In a seperate tweet she also said “Will and team let me participate in whatever I wanted and felt comfortable doing. After 27 years of disconnect we are all different people. It was great seeing everyone, life is too short!”
Don’t assume, he was working and I wasn’t there. Let it go sweetie, we have.
— Janet Hubert (@OGJanetHubert) November 20, 2020
However Hubert did not have great things to say about Ribeiro following the reunion. Speaking on a radio show she mentioned that he was probably the most disparaging to her on set despite saying in a tweet that there was no bad blood between the two when a fan pointed out that they were not on set together.
Ribeiro has his own issues he’s been trying to work through during his career. He recently opened up about not feeling loved by black families due to his own interracial one. He points out that he gets comments from people constantly about his wife, who is white. He feels that because of this he exist in a weird middle ground where white people do not fully embrace him, nor do black people.
“So I’m in my own little world with support from almost no one, to be in love with someone I’ve fallen in love with. How does that make sense? It doesn’t. We all want to live in a world where everyone is accepted for being and loving and living the way they choose to live. I will support any person that wants to live in a world that they want to live in. I’ll support a racist person to live in a world that they want to live in. They don’t have to be around me.”
