'The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air' reunion: Will Smith and Janet Hubert share screen space after 27 years of cold war

The reunion episode of  'The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air' was special for more reasons than one. The reunion episode saw cast members Will Smith and Janet Hubert coming face to face after decades of not speaking to each other. 

The popular 1990s sitcom's reunion debuted on HBO Max on Wednesday and had both Smith and Hubert clearing the air in front of other cast members such as Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Joseph Marcell, Daphne Maxwell Reid and Alfonso Ribeiro.

"We never really together publicly talk about Janet and what happened," Smith told the other cast members. 

"And for me, it felt like I couldn't celebrate 30 years of Fresh Prince without finding a way to celebrate Janet. So she agreed to sit down and have a conversation with me. And Janet and I saw one another for the first time in 27 years yesterday."

The two actors hugged it out in front of the camera with Smith explaining "It's been a real long time." 

Hubert played Aunt Viv for the first three seasons and left the show in 1993. Maxwell Reid took over the role for the three remaining seasons until the show's finale in 1996.

Over the years, Smith and Hubert have had a bitter public spat with both the actor refuting possibilities of a reunion. 

"During that third season when I got pregnant, there was a lot of things going on in my life and Will's life as well," Hubert said during the Wednesday episode. "Home life was not good at all. I was no longer laughing, smiling, joking because things were going on that nobody knew about. Cast had no idea what was going on."

Smith replied, "During that time of her pregnancy, I wasn't sensitive, wasn't perceptive. Now that I've had three kids, I've learned some things I did not know at the time. I would do things very differently. I can see where I made the set very difficult for Janet."

Hubert revealed that the show's team had cut her salary after the third season and offered her a "really bad deal." She explained that she was not fired but was not left with any option but to reject an offer to star in the show. 

The actress pointed out that the experience led her to feel "disowned" by Hollywood, and that she was told that Smith had "banished" her.

"You took all that away from me with your words," Hubert told Smith. "Words can kill. I lost everything. Reputation. Everything, everything. I understand you were able to move forward. You know those words—calling a Black woman ‘difficult' in Hollywood is the kiss of death. It's hard enough being a dark-skinned Black woman in this business. I felt it was necessary for us to finally move forward. And I'm sorry I have blasted you to pieces."

Smith said, "The person I want to be is someone who protects you," he continued, "not someone that unleashes dogs on you."

The two actors apologised to each other and the entire cast then enjoyed a group hug.