Janet Hubert reunited with the Banks family and the Peacock reboot that reimagined her legacy as Aunt Viv, officially joining the fourth and final season of Bel-Air, bringing her journey with the franchise full circle.
The 69-year-old actress, who originated the role of Vivian Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1990 to 1993, will appear in the upcoming season not as Aunt Viv but as a new character described by Deadline as someone who crosses paths with Coco Jones’ Hillary and becomes significant to the Banks household. Her return comes decades after her highly publicized departure from the original NBC sitcom, which she left following what she described as “creative differences.” The role was later filled by Daphne Maxwell Reid, who continued through the show’s final three seasons.
Their long-standing feud was publicly resolved during the Fresh Prince reunion special on HBO Max in 2020, where the two shared an emotional conversation that ended years of tension. Smith, for his part, addressed his past behavior during a 2024 episode of Vice’s Black Comedy in America, admitting, “I made a horrible error” and “I horribly underestimated what she was for me at that point in my life.”