‘Something Has Happened’: Alfonso Ribeiro Rejects Tyler Perry’s Help In Scathing Response to a Fan Suggesting the Filmmaker Could Revive His Acting Career
Alfonso Ribeiro does not want or need anyone’s help to revive his acting career, especially not Tyler Perry.
The actor, who seldomly tweets, set off a ringing alarm when he extinguished a fan’s hope that the filmmaker and studio owner could clear a pathway to get him booked for a role.
“Tyler Perry needs to revamp Alfonso Ribeiro career, I just know he could,” read the seemingly innocuous tweet on May 28.
The comment comes days after Ribeiro said that his portrayal of Carlton Banks on “The Fresh Price of Bel-Air” was a gift to his career as well as his greatest sacrifice, as it ultimately led to the end of his callbacks for on-screen work.
In a previous interview with Atlanta Black Star, he echoed a similar sentiment when he shared that the preppy character made it difficult for executives and fans to see him play other roles.
Aside from starring alongside LL Cool J on “In The House” from 1995 to 1999, the former Broadway thespian has mainly appeared in front of the camera, helming various shows and as a victorious dance competitor on “Dancing With the Stars.”
His supporters, who wish to see his return to character gigs, have offered an array of options, from a concept for a new family series to, well, working with Perry. However, the latter suggestion appeared to have struck a nerve with the “America’s Funniest Home Videos” host, who responded to the aforementioned tweet with, “I don’t need or ever want that man to do anything for me.”
Standing on business pic.twitter.com/XatZldD7Us
— Prodi Lemaj (@ProdiLemaj) May 28, 2024
With no context behind his words or audible clues to his tone, social media users could not help but suspect that a rift between the two men had taken place.
“This is giving something has happened and he can’t stand him,” read one reaction on X. Another user said, “The savage level just went through the roof on this. I don’t know what happened but something did. Speak your truth Carlton.”
On Instagram, even more comments can be found speculating about the quietly-kept reasons for Ribeiro’s disinterest in teaming up with billionaire entertainment mogul. “What’s that you’re standing on Carlton? Is that business?” an individual commented. A fourth reaction read, “Carlton been making money since he was 5 he def don’t need his career revamped and we don’t need him in none of those wigs.”
The longtime Hollywood talent previously worked with the “Madea” creator and star from 2009 through 2010, when he directed several episodes of seasons 2 and 3 of “Meet The Browns.”
According to actor Brandin Jay, he was cast as a bullied student on the “Meet the Troublemaker” episode. He described the filming process as the “most stressful and hardest thing” he had ever done.
@brandinjay Filming Meet The Browns Storytime! Like for Part 2. #meetthebrowns #meetthebrowns #tylerperry #mrbrown #amazonprime #foryoupage #fyp #tiktok #storytime #actingtok #brandinjay ♬ original sound – Brandin Jay
By now, most fans know that Perry runs a strict schedule that requires his crew to nail their lines with minimal takes to shoot a full episode in a day, unlike most studios that extend shoots up to a week.
Jay claimed that during a table read, as Ribeiro began to block the actors, staging them for the scenes, “Mr. Perry comes in. Everything changes. So we literally run the entire episode for him and he hates it…Mr. Perry on the spot, starts rewriting the entire script.”
He continued, “He’s feeding me the lines to say, and the director is kind of standing on the side, like you better do it, ‘cause if not, they will fire you.” In the remainder of the five-part TikTok story time, Jay said he became overwhelmed and had an emotional outburst after more drafts of the script were handed out.
He even said that he was unsure if Ribeiro was trying to “antagonize” him for flubbing his lines. “He’s in my face, and he’s like, ‘You know you need to get this right. You need to tune in. What if this was happening to you in real life? You need to tune in.”
In the end, he nailed the part with his raw emotions being the version that made it to air. “Mr. Perry calls me over to the side…and he said, ‘You did a phenomenal job.” Jay said it left him feeling validated and seen, but he did not share any lasting remarks about his experience with Ribeiro.