Page 59 - Will Smith: A Biography of a Rapper Turned Movie Star

Six Degrees of the Fresh Prince
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to discuss his concerns. After his experience trying to write
a script, Smith knew that changing the show would not be
easy, but he thought it was important.
Medina agreed with Smith and suggested a compromise
solution to the problem between Smith and the Borowitzes.
Smith would be allowed to offer the Borowitzes plot ideas
before the scripts were written. Unhappy with the idea of an
actor telling them what they should write, the Borowitzes
promptly quit. An African-American producer named
Winifred Hervey-Stallworth replaced them.
The show’s tone changed almost immediately. For one
thing, Will’s character got a job and began acting more
responsibly. There was still humor—after all, The Fresh Prince
of Bel-Air was a comedy—but there was less emphasis on silly
jokes and slapstick. Fortunately, these changes did not affect
the show’s ratings, which remained just as high as before.
While that problem was solved, the public soon learned
that offscreen, the show’s cast was not one big, happy family.
Smith and Janet Hubert-Whitten, who played Aunt Viv, were
not getting along. At the end of the third season, in the
spring of 1993, Hubert-Witten’s contract to act in the show
was not renewed.
When people are in show business, their personal
conflicts end up in the gossip columns. Reporters know that
the public has an endless fascination with news about
celebrities. Smith told reporters that Hubert-Whitten
resented the fact that Smith, not she, was the star. Hubert-
Whitten countered that Smith wanted her fired out of