Will Smith revealed in his memoir of an altercation with an NBC executive that almost turned physical
The American actor Will Smith has claimed that he once got into a fight with an NBC exes that almost turned into physical violence. The conflict started when the then 22-year-old actor felt a scene in his show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air wasn’t working. He made script changes without permission — which infuriated several producers, who then stopped production.
Young Will Smith
Later, the Men in Black actor, along with his producing partner James Lassiter, and two of the show’s producers, Benny Medina and Jeff Pollack, were called into an unnamed exec’s office. In the office, Smith and the NBC executive exchanged harsh words.
Will Smith’s Fiery Clash with NBC Executive
Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
According to the biography Will, the exec allegedly said to Smith:
“I’ve seen this happen a thousand f–king times. You can be gone just as fast as you got here.”
It didn’t end here. The exec then went on to insult the young actor even more, saying:
“So you can unilaterally change any of the words you want on a network sitcom, huh? Hundreds of millions of dollars, multiple partners, a s–t-ton of f–king veterans of the business … and you get to decide what the words are?”
Will Smith also couldn’t hold his anger and yelled:
“What the f–k you wanna do, bitch?, Who the f–k is you talkin’ to?”
The actor then asked the exec to sit down (in a furious voice).
Quincy Jones Eased Will Smith’s Creative Difference Tensions
Actor Will Smith with executive producer of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Quincy Jones
After leaving the office, Smith and his team realized how serious this situation had become. In a state of panic, he called the show’s executive producer, Quincy Jones. Smith then blurted to the executive producer, “I think I f–ked up.
Jones then calmed Smith down and explained to him that whatever he experienced was just “creative differences.” The prolific producer also reassured him by saying that everything would be fine as long as no physical fights happened. The Hollywood star recounted (via the book Will):
“We were coming from violent homes and violent neighborhoods and the violent music world. It was not unreasonable to think that an executive might get violent. We felt cornered and vulnerable.”
Watch Will Smith’s performance in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on Prime Video.
