“What the f–k you wanna do, bitch?”: Will Smith Did Not Hold Back After NBC Exec Threatened to Fire Him From His Hit Show

Will Smith revealed in his memoir of an altercation with an NBC executive that almost turned physical

Will Smith Did Not Hold Back After NBC Exec Threatened to Fire Him From His Hit Show

SUMMARY

  • Will Smith’s memoir revealed he was almost fired because of "creative differences"
  • Smith yelled at an NBC executive while shooting The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
  • The show's producer finally ended up appeasing Smith’s fear of having "f*cked up"
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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.

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Young Will Smith
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.

Also read: “My blood would just drain out of me”: Keanu Reeves’ Hid a Scary Injury from Everyone While Filming ‘The Matrix’ for an Absurd Fear Despite Beating Will Smith for the Role

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Will Smith’s Fiery Clash with NBC Executive

Will Smith on the set of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
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:

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“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).

Also read: “She is having a relationship with her bank account”: Jada Pinkett Smith Accused of Using Her Flawed Relationship With Will Smith to Make Money After Her Startling Confession

Quincy Jones Eased Will Smith’s Creative Difference Tensions

Will Smith with Quincy Jones
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.

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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.

Also read: “I can not believe you put yourself above our children”: Jada Pinkett Smith Broke Down in Tears After Eye Opening Therapy Session With Will Smith Revealed an Upsetting Truth About Their Marriage

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Written by Shreya Jha

Articles Published: 947

Shreya is an Entertainment News Writer at Fandomwire. She has over a year of experience in journalistic writing with a deep knowledge of entertainment world. After completing her bachelor's program in Journalism and Mass Communication, Shreya is now pursuing her master's degree in the same. Apart from being an avid reader, she's a huge Swiftie and K-culture buff. So yeah, when she's not writing, she will be caught listening to Tay or watching "Business Proposal" for the 100th time.