Will Smith Could’ve Had RuPaul on ‘Fresh Prince’, But Turned Him Down Because…You Know

Let’s dive into the world of 90s sitcoms, drag queens, and missed opportunities. In an alternate universe, we could have seen RuPaul sashaying down the halls of the Banks’ mansion in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. But alas, Will Smith, the Fresh Prince himself, said “no ma’am” to that idea.

According to Fresh Prince’s executive producer David Steven Simon, a pitch was made to have RuPaul, the reigning queen of drag, make a cameo. But Smith, in his infinite wisdom, decided it was “a bad idea.” One can only imagine the level of fabulousness that could have been injected into the show with RuPaul’s presence. Can I say snap snap?

But no, Smith thought it was better to keep things strictly Bel-Air, sans the glitter and wigs. It wasn’t too complicated why, Simon says (hey ohh!):

The reason he would say no is because of his image. Period.

Yes, hide your drag queens like they did back then. Nowadays, drag queens are everywhere, including your school library if you believe some people.

Now, this isn’t the first time Smith has made headlines for his decisions. Remember Will Smith’s slap at Chris Rock at the Oscars? Or when he resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after doing so? It seems like Smith has a knack for stirring the pot. But refusing a cameo from RuPaul? That’s a new level of controversy.

Smith denied us from seeing RuPaul bring some much-needed flair to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air? Clearly, Smith’s time was better spent turning down Oscar-worthy roles, launching ill-fated music comebacks, and parenting the next generation of philosophical Twitter poets. Bravo, Will, bravo!