Before Will Smith was ‘The Fresh Prince’ he ran fresh out of funds to pay his tax bill and had to borrow money from a “purveyor of neighborhood pharmaceuticals!”
During the London stop of his memoir promo tour, Will told Idris Elba about the time he got a loan from his drug dealer “friend” to help pay his taxes in the early ’90s. As a result of his financial woes prior to fame, Will said he had “to sell everything” and move to LA to kick start his acting career.
“I’m not sure what the government is like with taxes in the U.K., but in the U.S. they take it seriously. So Uncle Sam wanted his money. I didn’t forget—I just didn’t pay,” Will shared. “I borrowed $10,000 from a friend of mine who was a purveyor of neighborhood pharmaceuticals,” he continued—adding that he “moved to Los Angeles” shortly afterward.
Idris jokingly asked if Will’s drug dealing “friend” was in fact Stringer Bell—the character Elba played in the gritty cult classic series, The Wire. Will also revealed that shortly after relocating to LA he snagged the lead role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but the IRS still garnished 70% of his income for the first three seasons, Yahoo News reports. Ouch.
What do you think of Will revealing that he once borrowed money from a drug dealer? Tune in to see what our Dish Nation hosts think about this new sip of tea!
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