Jabari Banks says his character finally ‘feels like he belongs’ ‘Bel-Air’ season 4
Key art for season 4 of ‘Bel-Air’ (Peacock)
After three seasons of watching Will Smith search for identity and belonging in Bel-Air, Jabari Banks says his character finally feels at home in the show’s final season.
“I think he has reached the point now where he definitely feels like he belongs in Bel Air and having to leave is the hardest part,” he tells ABC Audio. “Finding a place where you’re like, ‘OK, I finally fit in. I finally think I got a hang of this thing’ and then everything changes again.”
Jabari says it’s a storyline fans can relate to.
“I think so many people can resonate with that in life in general. … As soon as you get comfortable, life throws something at you where you are like, it’s another thing,” he says, noting Will leans on his loved ones to get through the ebbs and flows of life.
“I think he’s at the point now in his life where he’s accepting that there’s always going to be something,” Jabari says. “And so as long as he has his family with him, I think he can get through anything.”
One of Will’s family members is cousin Carlton Banks, played by Olly Sholotan. Ollysays season 4 completes his character’s story, one that’s seen fans go from hating to loving Carlton.
“I think the thingI’m the most proud of is the fact that I was able to introduce audiences to a version of Carlton that quite frankly they did not like. … He was selfish. He had sacrificed so much of himself to fit in that he just rubbed everyone the wrong way,” Olly says. “It’s been a really incredible thing to see how audiences have come along with him. … And now they’re rooting for him.”
He teases there’s a “really big plot point in [Carlton’s] evolution” in the show’s final season.
Blake Lively in New York City, April 29, 2025, and Justin Baldoni in New York City, Aug. 8, 2024. (Getty Images)
A federal judge in New York has formally ended Justin Baldoni‘s $400 million counterclaim against his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively.
Judge Lewis Liman entered a final judgment on Oct. 31, after dismissing the suit in June.
Baldoni is able to appeal the judge’s ruling.
Baldoni and Lively have been locked in a bitter legal dispute since December 2024, when Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department, accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of the film, which he also directed.
Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni on Dec. 31, 2024, reiterating the claims made in her earlier complaint and alleging Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios had waged a retaliatory smear campaign against her. That same day, Baldoni filed a lawsuit against The New York Times, which had published a report outlining the claims detailed in Lively’s earlier complaint, alleging libel and false light invasion of privacy.
Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios filed a countersuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist, Leslie Sloane, weeks later, alleging civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy.
In June of this year, Liman granted Lively’s motion to dismiss Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios’ countersuit against her. The judge also dismissed Baldoni’s defamation suit against the Times.
At the time, Liman wrote in his opinion that Baldoni’s lawsuit hinged on claims that Lively “stole the film from Baldoni and Wayfarer, threatening to refuse to promote the film and attack Baldoni and Wayfarer in the press if the Wayfarer Parties did not agree to grant her, rather than Wayfarer, control over and credit for the film” and that “Lively, Sloane, Reynolds, and the Times spread a false narrative that Baldoni committed sexual misconduct towards Lively and the Wayfarer Parties then engaged in a smear campaign to ruin her reputation.”
“Regardless of the propriety of these actions, they do not constitute civil extortion under California law,” Liman wrote, adding that “the Wayfarer Parties have not adequately alleged that Lively’s threats were wrongful extortion rather than legally permissible hard bargaining or renegotiation of working conditions” and had “not shown that some of Lively’s allegedly extortionate acts damaged them.”
Two weeks later, on June 24, Baldoni decided not to amend his claims against Lively, Reynolds, Sloane and the Times.
In a statement at the time, Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said, “Instead of revising the existing claims, our clients will be pursuing additional legal options that are available to us.”
“The Court’s decision on the motion to dismiss has no effect whatsoever on the truth that there was no harassment nor any smear campaign, and it does not in any way affect our vigorous defense against Ms. Lively’s claims,” Freedman continued, calling Lively’s allegations “baseless.”
Lively’s spokesperson responded to Baldoni’s decision at the time, saying in a statement, “The Court dismissed the frivolous $400 million Baldoni-Wayfarer lawsuit in its entirety.”
They added, “In the days that followed, Baldoni’s lawyer said the judge’s decision to dismiss their case was not a big deal as they promised to amend and refile it. As per usual, that was not true. The Court’s dismissal of Baldoni’s sham lawsuit was a total victory after all.”
Reached for comment on Monday, a Times spokesperson directed ABC News to its earlier statement in June, following Liman’s dismissal of Baldoni’s defamation case against the outlet. “We are grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting,” the spokesperson said.
“Our journalists went out and covered carefully and fairly a story of public importance, and the court recognized that the law is designed to protect just that sort of journalism,” they continued. “We will continue to stand up in court for our journalism and for our journalists when their work comes under attack.”
Lively’s case against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios is still expected to go to trial in March next year.
ABC News reached out to Baldoni’s team, who did not issue any further comment.
ABC News has also reached out to Lively’s team for comment.
Emma Watson is seen during Milan Fashion Week on September 21, 2023, in Milan, Italy. (Arnold Jerocki/GC Images via Getty Images)
Emma Watson is opening up about her current relationship with Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling.
The actress shared her thoughts on Rowling’s anti-trans views while guesting on a recent episode of Jay Shetty‘s podcast On Purpose.
While Watson did not explicitly reference Rowling’s repeated rhetoric tied to the TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) movement — a group of people who believe transgender women are not women — she did comment on the situation, saying she is upset that a conversation with Rowling on the topic “was never made possible.”
“I just don’t want to say anything that continues to weaponize a really toxic debate and conversation, which is why I don’t comment or continue to comment — not because I don’t care about her or about the issue — but because the way that the conversation is being had feels really painful to me,” Watson said.
Watson also said she will always be grateful to Rowling for creating the character of Hermione Granger and that she thinks fondly of her time working with Rowling on the Harry Potter films.
“There is just no world in which I could ever cancel her out for — or cancel that out — for anything. It has to remain true — it is true,” Watson said.
The actress added, “I can love her, I can know she loved me, I can be grateful to her, I can know the things that she said are true, and there can be this whole other thing. My job feels like to just hold all of it, but the bigger thing is just what she’s done will never be taken away from me.”
TheChicago-set series The Chi will end after eight seasons, creator Lena Waithesaid in a statement to Deadline Wednesday. She said it’s “the right thing” to do “for the sake of our story and our characters.”
“When I created The Chi, it wasn’t just about making a TV show — it was about owning our narratives and telling our stories with truth, care, nuance and complexity. It was about showing the soul of the South Side — the beauty, the pain, the grit, and the magic that lives in every block, and in every family,” Lena explained. She promised fans “a final season that our Chi Family deserves.”
She called the experience the “honor of my life to build a platform for artists to shine” and thanked all those who helped in the show’s success.
“I’m deeply grateful to every single person who helped build this world — our writers, actors and crew who give so much of themselves to make this show what it is,” Waithe said.
The Chi is the longest-running Black drama on premium cable/streaming, according to Deadline, and the second-longest-running series in Showtime’s history, along with Dexter, Homeland and Weeds.
It centers on a group of residents from Chicago’s South Side who become linked by a series of coincidences, tragic events, and the desire for community and redemption.
Jacob Latimore, Yolonda Ross, Shamon Brown Jr., Michael V. Epps, Birgundi Baker, Luke James and Hannaha Hall star in the ensemble series.
