*Jaleel White is opening up about his falling out with Will Smith back in the day.
According to TooFab, in his memoir “Growing Up Urkel,” White reflects on pitching a show to Will after Smith signed a production deal with Universal in the late ’90s. Despite initial optimism following White’s cameo on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” he was advised by his agent that the project wouldn’t move forward due to other decision-makers. White ultimately chose to join the short-lived UPN series “Grown Ups” as a safer option.
“I should have called Will directly, and the truth was, I wanted to work with Will, badly,” White wrote in the book. “Soon after my meeting with Will, his head of TV would end up getting relieved of his duties, which complicated the chain of command.
“And Will was becoming such a big star, so fast, that I didn’t have the nerve to call his phone myself months later and ask, ‘Hey, man, why’d you fire your head of TV? My agent said there was no deal to be made. They’re offering me this show at UPN and I know in my heart this premise is weaker than ours.'”
White added “My decision to go with Grown Ups instead of exploring a show with Will Smith — sticking to my guns and being patient with the process basically ended my and Will’s relationship,” he recalled. “There were no more invites to his house or his movie sets, no more calls to say ‘What’s up?'”
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In a recent interview with Us Weekly, White said, “When I got the opportunity to nearly work with him, [I now] go back and look at the number of people that conspired to make sure that we did not speak directly any further. It sucks for me. But as long as I got it out and I got to express it, that’s once again in one of those areas where the book just becomes therapeutic.”
He added, “I just always want Will to know — and I’m not sure he ever did — how much I admired his forging ahead. I saw it coming before the rest of America got a chance to see it coming. I could see it coming in NBA All-Star Stay in School Jam and would think, ‘This dude’s freaking energy is huge in the room.’ And you wouldn’t necessarily get credit for that when you’re a kid.”
READ MORE FROM EURWEB.COM: Jaleel White Reveals Reason for Thumbs Down on ‘Family Matters’ Reboot | WATCH
