Tatyana Ali adores her embattled “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” co-star Will Smith.
“He’s a beautiful person who has done so much good,” she told Page Six exclusively this week at Variety’s Power of Women luncheon in New York.
Smith, 54, stunned the world last year when he famously slapped Chris Rock onstage at the Academy Awards for making a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith.
Ali, 44, declined to comment further on Smith.
“I don’t want to talk about it because he is someone very close to me, and it hurts,” she said, though she did admit that a “Fresh Prince” group chat was pinging wildly the night of the Oscars.
Ali, who played Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom from 1990 to 1996, credits her family for keeping her out of rehab, as so many other former child stars have.
“My family doesn’t care if I’m an entertainer or a teacher,” she explained. “They are concerned about me. I have friends who did not fare well, and I believe it has something to do with when you are a child.
“You are working, but you are still a child, and you need someone to protect you and tell you no.” My parents were not having any of it. Like my sisters, I had chores. I had to attend college.”
Ali eventually ended up at Harvard, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in African-American studies and government in 2002.
The mother of two also stated that she was usually a good judge of potential friends and their intentions.
“I knew who was there for me and who was there for other reasons,” she explained. “I was betrayed many times as well, but it was a different era before social media, and betrayal didn’t mean everyone could see it.” “I got to cry alone.”
Ali attended the luncheon, which honored authors Judy Blume, Natasha Lyonne, Rosie Perez, Kelly Ripa, and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez. Andy Cohen, Aidy Bryant, Sandra Bernhard, and Sherri Shepherd were among those in attendance.
