Will Smith cries as Janet Hubert details mistreatment of Prince Fresh at Red Table conference

Will Smith made headlines when he and Janet Hubert – the original Aunt Viv of “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” – finally buried the hatchet after a nearly 30-year feud over the 30th anniversary of the program.

But never-before-seen footage from the HBO Max special proves just how emotional that shoot was, as the two had to stop filming at some point and come out for a break.

Will took over “Red Table Talk” on Facebook Watch for a special episode on Friday, in which he showed additional footage and confessionals from their reunion, before sitting down with clinical psychologist Dr Ramani Durvasula to try to figure out why he behaved this way he did at the time. Durvasula was also on hand for her reunion with Hubert, in case they needed help.

“At first we were all just one big happy family. But over time our relationship deteriorated and I handled it badly,” Smith admitted in a voiceover, before Hubert appeared in a confessional to talk about some of the abuse.

“He was young, he was out of control in his own way, he had all this power,” she recalls. “There was a need for me to have professionalism on set, because I was used to it, especially as a dancer.”

She didn’t get this from Smith, who admitted he was callous and added, “I wasn’t insightful and, ultimately, I wasn’t nice.”

“I was sitting in my car some evenings and didn’t want to go anywhere. I didn’t want to go home, I didn’t want to go to work,” said Hubert. “The misconception on my part was that I was haughty, difficult, that I wanted to be the star of the show.”

Smith explained that due to the tension between them, “the decision was made to reduce his role” in the series.

“As the oldest woman on this set, there is this level of respect that I just needed to have to be an older woman, a black woman,” Hubert said. “I had been banned and they said it was you who banned me, because I wasn’t laughing at your jokes.” Then they ordered me to stay in my room, I couldn’t go on stage. And I wasn’t unprofessional on set, I just stopped talking to everyone. “

Calling the negotiations “failed,” Hubert asked Smith if he knew what had been offered to him. She said the deal was for two months and two weeks of work and said she was told she could not find employment elsewhere during the downtime. For her, it was like being “in my shoes” for the tension on set.

Smith said he wasn’t quite sure what the offer involved, but understood she turned it down.

“How do you survive with a mortgage, a new business, a new baby and a husband who wasn’t working at the time? How do you survive? So much of what you said destroyed everywhere we went. beat. I lost my house. I lost everything, “she said to him then.

“The blacks beat my ass. They beat my son’s ass. Someone smashed a cookie in my son’s face and said, ‘Your mom is a bitch.’ People send me hateful Instagrams: “Aren’t you dead yet?” “I love Will, why don’t you die? It was hard, ”she continued. “I promised my dad that I would delete my name because it’s his name and my family said you ruined our name.”

Smith began to tear at this point, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe away tears. “But you’re the big star, I’m just a little black bitch,” said Hubert, who then started to get very emotional before Will asked her if she needed a moment outside. As she demanded that the cameras be turned off, they came down arm in arm. “I feel like I’m about to have a heart attack,” Hubert said.

When they returned, Smith admitted to being a “scared little boy” and said he “hadn’t realized the power” of his words. He admitted that “it was too far away from me”, and he now realized how struggling she was back then. He has vowed to be a source of support and protection for her in the future and not someone who “unleashes dogs” on her. Hubert added: “I am bitten to death.”

After watching those moments with Dr. Durvasula, they delved into the “why” of his actions.

“It’s not who I want to be and it’s not what I want to make people feel,” said Will, who added that “his whole life and career has been about making people feel aggressively to people the opposite ”.

He explained part of his childish behavior when talking about violence in his own home while growing up with an abusive father. “Part of all of Will Smith’s creation, the joke, the fun, the silliness was making sure my dad was entertained enough not to hurt my mom or anyone in the house,” he says.

He added that the little boy in him “desperately” needed Hubert’s approval and acknowledged how similar his behavior on set was to the dynamic he had with his real family growing up. “I was the prankster, I played and I laughed and I needed everyone to be happy so that I could feel safe,” Smith said.

He added that he felt “threatened” by Janet at the time.

“At this point in my career, ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ really saved my life. I wasted all my money, I didn’t pay taxes, I was in debt to the IRS, I flopped an album, and ‘The Fresh Prince’ was life, ”said Smith, who, at one point owed nearly $ 3 million in taxes. “I needed mom [Janet] think i was awesome and once i realized no my dragon woke up. “

Acknowledging that his behavior towards Hubert was “flawed and hurtful,” he added that he didn’t think there was anyone else on earth who could say that he “had them. hurts”.

Smith told Dr Durvasula that female disapproval is his “central wound” in life and it’s something he’s worked hard on and faced head on for the past three years – especially in relation to his daughter Willow. and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

The two ended the conversation with Will by talking about the importance of listening and hearing someone else’s story. “It sounds really simple,” he says, “but it’s huge.”

Dr. Durvasula added: “You must be able to resist someone else’s truth.”

The “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” special is now available on HBO Max.