Will Smith had reservations when he was asked about the idea of RuPaul’s cameo in his hit sitcom The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air “because of his image.”
The Emancipation star reportedly said “no” when the executive producer David Steven Simon wanted the future Drag Race star to appear in the comedy series.
Smith thought it would be a “really bad idea” to bring in RuPaul as reported by journalist Thea Glassman in her new book Freaks, Gleeks, And Dawson's Creek: How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television.
Glassman wrote in the book that Smith used to approve everything story in the show and did not have the habit of raising objections.
However when "Simon pitched a cameo from RuPaul, a drag queen who was making a name for himself with dance tracks like Supermodel (You Better Work)," Smith rejected the idea.
“[Simon recalled], ‘I remember him saying that would be a really bad idea. And I said, 'No, listen, hear my story...’” Glassman penned. “Smith, as Simon remembers it, refused. He just kept repeating that it was a bad idea.”
"OK, OK. We don't need to do it," Simon told Smith at the time with Glassman writing, “From Simon's perspective, 'The reason he would say no is because of his image. Period. The End.'"
