Alfonso Ribeiro will go down in history for one main reason. When he starred in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, he popularized the Carlton dance.
The dance, meant to be cringe-worthy ended up as a massively popular dance, and that has come back to haunt him over his life.
Alfonso appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and talked about the dance that is still a fan favorite 26 years after the original Fresh Prince went off the air.
Alfonso Ribeiro is sick of the Carlton dance
It has been 26 years since the original The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air went off the air. Since that time, Alfonso became the host of ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos, starred in the series In the House, and even went on to direct several television episodes.
Despite this, he said every single day he goes outdoors, someone asks him to do the Carlton. And he refuses for a very good reason. Alfonso sat down with Jimmy Kimmel and addressed the topic.
“I don’t have a love for it like they do,” Alfonso said. “You know, I mean, I typically get asked to do the dance pretty much every day of my life if I go outside. Yeah, if I go anywhere, I just randomly hear people, ‘Do the dance!’ You’re like, ’I’m not dancing for you. I’m a Black guy that’s not dancing for you. That’s not gonna happen.”
The problem comes from the fact that people love the dance, and the dance is how they know him. However, people can’t expect him to just stop and dance for them on the streets.
He also thinks it is a weird request.
“The weird part for me is trying to understand what’s happening in their head,” Alfonso said. “What makes you think that you’re gonna ask a random person to dance for you and they’re gonna be like, ‘Oh my god, I’ve been waiting for you to ask. Hold on a second, let me get into character.’ I don’t get it.”
Alfonso Ribiero has taken the dance outside the show
With that said, Alfonso knows that the dance is popular, and he will take the time to pull it out – only if the situation is acceptable.
He did it on Dancing with the Stars, and that might be part of the reason he won so many fans over as they voted him to the championship in Season 19.
However, there are other situations where he became very protective of the Carlton.
The game Fortnite has several dance moves that gamers can collect and have their characters do at certain times in the game. The developer added the Carlton without permission. However, after suing Epic Games, the U.S. Copyright Office wouldn’t allow him to copyright the dance, so he dropped the lawsuit.
Dancing with the Stars is on hiatus. The dancing reality competition series will return in late 2022 to its new home on Disney+ streaming.