The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air: 10 Reasons Will & Jazz Aren’t Real Friends

In many ways, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is a series about the improvement of Will Smith’s young adult life. By sending him to Bel-Air, his mother hopes that he will learn from his family, the Bankses, and become a better young man, less likely to get himself in trouble. Of course, what does Will do? Find trouble in none other than his new best friend, Jazz.

Will and Jazz’s friendship is, of course, heavily inspired by the real life friendship between Will Smith and Jeffrey “DJ Jazzy Jeff” Townes. But no matter the real life inspiration for this dynamic duo, it’s hard to believe that these two are really the best friends when it’s clear that they don’t actually care about each other, or their best interests, very much at all.

10 The backstory of their friendship makes no sense

When Will first moves to Bel-Air at the start of the series, the only people he knows in town are his relatives, the Banks family. But in the second episode of the series, “Bang the Drum, Ashley,” Jazz is quickly introduced as a guy Will has met who knows a lot about music.

But right off the bat, Will and Jazz seem to be the best of friends, complete with a handshake and shorthand references. It doesn’t add up at all given how little time Will has spent in Bel-Air so far.

9 Will’s family doesn’t like Jazz

Jazz might be one of the series’ more irritating characters, given his odd behavior and habit of overstepping boundaries. But that doesn’t make the fact that practically the entire Banks household cannot stand him, and dreads his arrival any time he and Will spend time together.

The fact that a recurring joke in the series involves Jazz being physically and violently thrown from the Banks house by Uncle Phil is also more troubling than it ever is funny.

8 Will often chooses Carlton over Jazz

Jazz appears in the series more frequently in its earlier seasons, as Will is adjusting to life in Bel-Air and needs a friend that reminds him of the life he left behind. But as Will becomes more fully acclimated to the Banks lifestyle, he and Carlton begin to spend more time together as friends, and not enemies.

As a result, Jazz is seen less often as the series goes on. Though it’s nice to see Will and Carlton’s relationship develop, it’s a shame that it has to be done at the expense of Will’s friendship with Jazz.

7 They don’t seem to be the same age

Jazz doesn’t go to high school with Will and Carlton, a fact that is made clear during the episode where Will is courted by Bel-Air Academy’s basketball team. But it’s not exactly clear that Jazz goes to high school anywhere – and in fact, he seems to be quite a bit older than Will, too.

While Will is still a teenager in high school, Jazz is working deejay gigs at nightclubs, posing as a pastor, and making open romantic passes at Will’s twenty-something cousin Hilary. The age difference is never brought up by the series, but it’s impossible to ignore.

6 Jazz manipulates Will into dating his sister

Much of Will and Jazz’s friendship revolves around searching for women and shamelessly hitting on every single one that crosses their paths. So it was only a matter of time before Will was paired up with Jazz’s sister, Janet – and with Jazz’s blessing, at that.

But as becomes quickly apparent, Janet is more than a little unhinged, incredibly controlling, and a royal pain – something that Jazz knew all too well, and knowingly hid from his so-called best friend, Will.

5 Will takes Jazz for granted

Though Jazz doesn’t always contribute in meaningful or helpful ways, he does have good intentions at heart when it comes to trying to help Will and the Bankses out on most occasions. That makes it all the more difficult to witness Will routinely taking Jazz for granted, and overlooking him in favor of better offers.

It also doesn’t make it any easier to see these two on the outs on multiple occasions, with Jazz even openly criticizing Will for making him feel left out and less than.

4 Jazz takes Will for granted, too

Of course, Jazz is hardly innocent in his own right when it comes to using Will’s friendship for his own gains. Most of the time that Jazz hangs around at the Banks home, he might be there to spend time with Will, but he inevitably uses his time to irritate and hit on Hilary, too.

It wouldn’t be hard to make the argument that Will’s friendship is just a means to an end for Jazz. Once Hilary is (temporarily) off the market, Jazz starts showing up a little less, too.

3 Jazz’s wife tries to cheat with Will

Eventually, late in the series’ run, Jazz finds love in the most unlikely of places with hot-tempered convict Jewel. But the relationship doesn’t exactly run a smooth course from the very beginning.

Just as the two are about to get married, Jewel openly comes onto Will, stripping and throwing herself at him despite Will’s protests. Later on, Jazz and Jewel ask Will to help them conceive a child, which just brings the previous incident up all over again and makes the friendship awkward again.

2 Jazz chooses women over Will when Will needs him most

Jazz and Will are both players in the truest sense, and there’s no denying that. But there’s also no denying that their friendship is almost never given precedence over any romantic prospects. Both of them are guilty of this habit, but Jazz is far guiltier of it than Will.

When Will returns home from a stay in Philadelphia, he gets kicked out of the Banks house, and goes to Jazz for support. But Jazz rejects him in favor of hooking up with a date, leaving Will to literally roam the streets with nowhere to go.

1 They get into trouble together – and not always the good kind

Though Will and Carlton also get into plenty of trouble together, some instances of it more serious than others, Will and Jazz also get in way over their heads on multiple occasions with their poorly thought out schemes.

Whether it’s Jazz impersonating a pastor to fake marry Will and his girlfriend, or Jazz impersonating a fake poet Will made up to score with a girl in high school, it’s clear that these two are willing to do a lot for each other – but not always for the better, or with the best of intentions.

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