Here's Actually Why Janet Hubert, AKA The Original Aunt Viv From "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air," Departed From The Show

    This part of the reunion was a moment most pleasing to me.

    Ajani Bazile-Dutes
    by Ajani Bazile-Dutes

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Yestarday, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion was released on HBO Max to celebrate 30 years of the iconic series.

    HBO Max

    One of the highlights of the reunion was when Will Smith spoke face-to-face with Janet Hubert for the first time in 27 years to discuss their issues and why she left the show.

    HBO Max

    Janet clarified that when she was pregnant during the third season, she had a bad home life and was in an abusive marriage that no one knew about.

    HBO Max

    Janet said, "There were a lot of things going on in my life and in Will's life as well. There was some friction because I was pregnant. Home life was not good at all. I was no longer laughing, smiling, joking because there were things going on that nobody knew about. The cast had no idea what was going on."

    Will admitted, "During that time of her pregnancy, I wasn't sensitive. I wasn't perceptive."

    HBO Max

    Will went on, "And, you know, now that I've had three kids, I learned some things that I did not know at the time, and I would do things very differently. But I can see where I made the set very difficult for Janet."

    Janet then explained how in the third season, they offered her a "bad deal" where she would get two months and two weeks of work without being allowed to work anywhere else, so she declined the offer.

    Janet holding her new baby
    HBO Max

    This would have cut Janet's income during a time when she had a new baby and a husband who wasn't working.

    She clarified, "I did not accept their offer. I was never fired. So the misconception was always put out there."

    Janet and James Avery sitting on a couch as Aunt Viv and Uncle Phil
    NBC / Getty Images

    "When I left the show, I had this new baby and no one. Family disowned me. Hollywood disowned me." Janet added, "My family said, 'You've ruined our name.'"

    Carlton Banks, a pregnant Aunt Viv, and Will Smith
    NBC / Getty Images

    Janet explained how she stopped talking to everyone on the set because she didn't know who to trust and she had been told it was Will who had banished her.

    NBC / Getty Images

    She added how Smith also contributed to negatively changing her narrative. "But you know those words, calling a Black woman difficult in Hollywood, is the kiss of death."

    NBC / Getty Images

    In the end, they both tearfully apologized for all the harsh things they've said about the other over the last three decades.

    Will Smith telling Janet, "I could not do a 30-year celebration of this show and not celebrate you"
    HBO Max

    To see more heartwarming and tearjerking moments, watch the full reunion special on HBO Max.

    Janet, the original Aunt Viv, and Daphne Maxwell Reid, who also played Aunt Viv, embrace
    HBO Max