Turns Out Will Smith’s Real Dad was Worse than His Absent TV Dad

The episode of “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” called, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Excuse” was a watershed TV moment. Will’s long-estranged father (Ben Vereen) shows up to reconnect, only to abandon Will AGAIN.

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For a lot of people, that was the first time you thought, “Wow. The Fresh Prince is actually a GOOD actor”. Also, there’s a lot of emotional tension for a nineties sit-com.

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And, according to Smith himself, his REAL dad was worse than his absentee TV dad.

In his upcoming memoir, “Will”, the actor relates a story about the time he contemplated killing his infirm father as revenge for the mistreatment of his mother.

Smith says that, as a young child, he had seen his father physically abuse his mom. Smith says he always felt guilty that he couldn’t do more to protect his mom and vowed that, when he was able, he would “slay him”. Yikes!

Flash-forward to adult A-list movie star Will Smith. His parents separated when he was a teenager but, later in life, he found himself caring for his father who was dying of cancer. In the book, Smith tells the story of pausing his father’s wheelchair at the top of some stairs and contemplating his vengeance. “I could shove him down, and get away with it.”

Obviously, Will Smith didn’t kill his father.