Why did the first mom on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air leave?

Per wikipedia Janet reportedly left The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air due to a violation of contract that resulted when she became pregnant; the pregnancy and birth of her character Vivian’s child Nicky Banks was worked into the plot to accommodate the situation. She also was the original Tantomile in the first Broadway run of Cats[1].

Also, she reportedly had a major falling out with Will Smith, who by that time was also the show’s executive producer.

Now, this is a story all about how
The first wife got send right out of town
And I like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I’ll tell you all about how I treated this woman unfair

In west Philadelphia born and raised
On the Fresh Prince set was where I spent most of my days
Chillin’ out maxin’ relaxin’ all cool
And doing some producer stuff, boy was I cool!

When the first wife yelled
She was making me sad
Startin making trouble and acting all bad
We got in one little fight and the mom got scared
She said I’m movin and not gonna play your aunt in Bel Air!

I always wondered this…

@markyy ; bravo!

she left for disagreements with the producers because they wouldn’t pay her what she wanted.

I loved it that when the new actress appeared, Will said something along the lines of “Aunt Viv, you look different!”

I love it when shows do that. Same thing happened on Roseanne with the two actresses playing Becky.

And Wikipedia goes on to say this:

“After she was fired from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Janet’s character was played by Daphne Reid for the remainder of the show’s run. According to Will Smith, the show’s star, he and Janet had difficulties working together long before her pregnancy.[2] Janet Hubert has accused Will Smith of being ruthless, destroying for all actors overshining him.”

Probably the producers wanted a way to get her out of their faces release her and used the pregnancy to do that.

Changes my whole outlook and opinion on a favoured childhood show. Bad Will Smith, bad.

Perhaps Will Smith was indeed ruthless, but perhaps Janet was truly irritating, self-centered, and less talented than she thought she was. There are always two sides to every story, and sometimes more.