Book says RuPaul could have been on ‘Fresh Prince,’ but Will Smith said no
. At the time, RuPaul was making it big with his dance track "Supermodel (You Better Work)."
A former producer on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” claims Will Smith once rejected an opportunity for RuPaul to cameo on the hit ‘90s comedy series, People reports.
According to the new book, “Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson’s Creek: How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television,” producer David Steven Simon said he pitched the idea to have the up-and-coming drag star make a guest appearance on the show. At the time, RuPaul was making it big with his dance track “Supermodel (You Better Work).”
“I remember him saying that would be a really bad idea,” Simon recalls in the book from journalist Thea Glassman, People reports.
According to the book, Simon said that from his perspective, “The reason he would say no is because of his image. Period. The End,” he said.
People noted that a representative for Smith had not yet responded to its request for comment on Simon’s remarks.
“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” debuted on NBC in 1990 and marked Smith’s acting breakout. The cast included Alfonso Ribeiro, James Avery, Janet Hubert, Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Joseph Marcell, Daphne Maxwell Reid, and DJ Jazzy Jeff. The series had numerous celebrity guests throughout its six-season run, including Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell, Quincy Jones, B.B. King and Oprah Winfrey.
Though RuPaul was never a guest on “Fresh Prince,” he had a show on VH1 as well as a radio program before launching “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in 2009. The reality competition show, now in its 15th season, has won 27 Emmy Awards and spawned several international versions, according to People.
In November 2020, several “Fresh Prince” cast members reunited to tape a 30th-anniversary special, now available on HBO Max. The emotional gathering saw Smith and Avery unpack their 27-year feud. The actress claims Smith forced her off the series for not laughing at his jokes, theGrio reported. During their decades-long beef, she repeatedly explained how her career suffered when Smith had her blacklisted in Hollywood.
When Hubert and Smith sat down for a one-on-one during a November 2020 episode of “Red Table Talk,” she recalled being told that he had her “banished” from the “Fresh Prince” set, theGrio reported. She also claims she was “ordered” to stay in her dressing room.
“I couldn’t come out on the stage, and I wasn’t unprofessional on the set,” Hubert said on RTT. “I just stopped talking to everybody because I didn’t know who to trust,” she continued.
Smith replied, “I just swear [that] my 21-year-old eyes could only see that I felt like you hated me.”
Smith serves as producer on a dramatized “Fresh Prince” reboot titled “Bel-Air” on Peacock. NBC announced in March that the show received a third-season renewal.
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