Everyone’s Favorite Aunt
Aunt Viv From the The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was Everyone’s Favorite Aunt.
The fourth season of NBC’s hit show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air aired on September 20, 1993. For it’s first three seasons the show had been a hit, starring rapper turned actor Will Smith. He had came out west from Philadelphia after getting into a bit of trouble to live with his rich relatives, which consisted of his cousins Ashley (Tatyana Ali), Hilary (Karyn Parsons) and Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro); his Uncle Phil (James Avery) and his wife, Will’s mother’s younger sister Vivian (Janet Hubert).
Fans of the show loved Aunt Vivian, or Aunt Viv as she was affectionately known. She kept it real at all times, held no punches, while loving her family at the same time. There was no doubt that she was definitely a fan favorite; which was why everyone was so shocked and confused to see another woman portraying their beloved Aunt Viv during the season four premiere of the show. There was no reason or explanation as to why she had been replaced, and it left people baffled to say the least.
At least the public was baffled; however, there had been turmoil between Hubert and Will Smith well before she was fired from the show in 1993. Depending on who’s side of the story you choose to believe, Hubert was fired for either being too difficult to both her cast members and the staff on the show (Smith’s side) or because she wanted a substantial raise when it was time to negotiate the contracts (Hubert’s side). Either way, once she was fired from the show, it seemed that she dropped out of the spotlight for a while; fueling the rumors that Smith had blackballed her in Hollywood.
Since her exit from the show, Hubert managed to score a few roles on different TV shows (The Jamie Foxx Show, The Bernie Mac Show, House of Payne to name a few). However, those roles usually consisted of one episode each and were not permanent like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The lack of jobs infuriated Hubert, who had starred on Broadway in the original production run of Cats and had also been on various TV shows (21 Jump Street, Tales from the Crypt) well before she was cast as Aunt Vivian. With so many rumors flying about her, affecting her ability to land a secure acting job, Hubert reached out to Smith, according to US Weekly. She was quoted as saying, “Please, I need you to clear my name” in 2009. She expected to receive an apology in response. Instead according to her, she received nothing.
These days Hubert can be seen in a few independent films, including No Letting Go and Not Another Black Movie, both of which came out this year. She is also known to be very vocal on social media, especially when it comes to her former co-stars. In March of this year, Alfonso Riberio posted a picture of him with the other Fresh Prince stars on Instagram, minus James Avery who unfortunately passed away and of course, Hubert. The photo sparked talk of a reunion, which Hubert quickly shot down in a post on her Facebook page: “I know the media hoe Alphonso Ribero has posted his so called reunion photo. Folks keep telling me about it. He was always the ass wipe for Will. There will never be a true reunion of the Fresh Prince. I have no interest in seeing any of these people on that kind of level.” Ouch.
Her former co-stars are not the only people who are at the receiving end of her scathing remarks on social media either. Former Apprentice star Omorosa Manigault was also a target as well: “N****rosa honey child you need to put your black card in the shredder, tighten that white woman dead hair…weave on your head, and sit your dumb a*s down before someone knocks you down”. She went on to drag her further for being a Donald Trump ally.
While Hubert’s social media commentary is very entertaining, most fans of hers would love to see on their TV screens every week again. All controversy aside, Hubert has shown that she is a very talented actress. With a career that has spanned over three decades now, she has shown that she definitely has what it takes to remain a fan favorite.
