Janet Hubert Reveals She ‘Absolutely’ Contemplated Suicide After ‘Fresh Prince’ Exit

Janet Hubert

Janet Hubert Reveals She ‘Absolutely’ Contemplated Suicide After ‘Fresh Prince’ Exit

Janet Hubert has been back in the spotlight since she appeared on the Fresh Prince reunion special last year. Now, she’s opening up even more about her life after leaving the show just before its fourth season.

Janet Hubert’s exit is still an infamous one as she and star Will Smith publicly feuded for nearly 30 years before settling their issues during the reunion.

"Calling a black woman difficult in Hollywood is the kiss of death and its hard enough being a dark-skinned black woman in this business" – Janet Hubert #FreshPrinceReunion pic.twitter.com/EltXiy3QoH

— Geeks of Color #BlackLivesMatter (@GeeksOfColor) November 19, 2020

During a recent interview, she explained that she thought about taking her own life after leaving the popular sitcom, which ran for a total of six seasons.

She spoke on life after Fresh Prince during an interview with PopViewers and said,

“You’re only as good as the last job you ever did. We also know that you can make money [and] the next day you can have no money. I also had just opened up a studio. I signed a 10-year lease at like $60,000 to $100,000 worth of equipment… I had a franchise to develop… I not only had a house, a mortgage, a husband who wasn’t working at the time, I also had a business and a baby, an infant who needed me desperately.”

She went on to say her son, who was a newborn at the time, saved her life.

“He saved me. He really did. My son. Because I knew I had to take care of that little boy. ‘Fresh Prince’ had not gone into syndication yet, so there was no money for a few years, until they did enough episodes to make syndication. I was in the third season negotiating for the fourth season… It was hard. There were moments when I felt so broken. So low. I didn’t know what I could do. There were moments where I wanted to die.”

When asked if she ever thought about taking her own life, she replied,

“Absolutely. I figured I had a life insurance policy to take care of my son…”

She recalled living in Burbank, Calif., and thinking,

“I’m not gonna do this. I can’t do this. I can’t make it, this is too much. ‘Cause everywhere I went people would attack and say hurtful things. [My son] was an infant. What was I gonna do?”

Janet Hubert laid low and didn’t re-enter Hollywood until recently. Now, she’s slated to star in an upcoming Mahalia Jackson biopic along with Ledisi and Columbus Short.

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