Why did The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air recast Aunt Vivian after season 3? Before he was a box-office superstar and global icon, Will Smith was a kid from West Philadelphia and the MC of the hip-hop duo, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. In 1990, NBC approached Smith to develop a sitcom around him titled, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. After a successful 6-season run, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was one of the most popular sitcoms of the '90s and helped launch Smith's acting career.
Smith starred in the titular role alongside The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's cast of Alfonso Ribeiro as Carlton Banks, Karyn Parson as Hilary Banks, Tatyana M. Ali as Ashley Banks, and the late James Avery as Philip Banks. The last member of the family was Vivian Banks, also known as Aunt Viv. For the first 3 seasons of the '90s sitcom, Aunt Viv was played by Janet Hubert. After season 3, Hubert was controversially replaced with Daphne Maxwell Reid in 1993, who remained as Aunt Viv from season 4 to the series finale. Hubert's sudden departure was first reported as creative differences, but it later came out that it stemmed from a feud with Smith.
In 1992, Hubert became pregnant in real life. Hubert's pregnancy was integrated into Aunt Viv's storyline as a way to introduce Nicky Banks, Will's baby cousin. Allegedly, Hubert's pregnancy was a violation of her contract, which resulted in her termination at the end of season 3 of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. However, Hubert's feud with Smith seemed to be the leading reason for her departure. According to reports, Smith and Hubert did not see eye-to-eye while working together. In a 1993 interview with an Atlanta radio station, Smith said, "I can say straight up that Janet Hubert wanted the show to be 'The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air Show' because I know she is going to dog me in the press [...] She's mad now but she's been mad all along" (via ENews).
Despite Smith's claims, Hubert has stated that she was professional and never difficult on set. In her memoir, Perfection Is Not A Sitcom Mom, Hubert claims that Smith requested for her to be fired, which she claims ruined her career. In a 2016 appearance on The Real, Hubert cited that Smith was "young, inexperienced, and needed to win," and furthermore, he was caught up in a lie with things that never happened. In 2017, Ribeiro posted a Fresh Prince reunion photo with most of the cast including Smith and Reid to his Instagram. Unsurprisingly, Hubert was not in the picture, nor invited to this reunion.
Despite the alleged drama, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air briefly poked fun at Reid replacing Hubert just once. In the first episode of season 4, which marks Reid's first appearance, Jazz said there's something different about Aunt Viv ever since she had the baby, and Will slowly raised his eyebrows in agreement to the camera. With news of a potential Fresh Prince spinoff in development, it's unknown if any of the former cast will appear in the show. However, don't expect Smith and Hubert to be on the set together anytime soon.