Hollywood A-Lister Will Smith became a household name with his comedy Fresh Prince of Bel Air, but does anyone know why and under what conditions he agreed to make that show? On his newly launched YouTube channel, the Concussion star recently detailed how he got to be a part of the legendary sitcom.

Smith said that his 1988 hit song “Parents Just Don’t Understand” with DJ Jazzy Jeff made him financially successful, but that he squandered most of it and didn’t pay his taxes.

He recalls in the video, “Before I was getting in trouble with Uncle Phil, I was getting in trouble with Uncle Sam.” Smith said that not paying his taxes resulted in the IRS seizing his vehicles, leaving him “broke, broke, broke.”

“In my mind I wasn’t trying to avoid paying taxes, I was like, ‘oh damn, they need their money,” Smith said. “Being famous and broke is a sh*tty combination, ’cause you still famous and people recognize you but they recognize you while you’re sitting next to them on the bus.”

With the release of And in This Corner… in 1989, the situation became much worse. Despite two Grammy nominations, the album was a commercial disaster, selling just 500,000 copies compared to He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper’s three million, according to XXL.

In the video, Smith said, “Me and [Jazzy] Jeff had come out with a smash hit. We made a bunch of money, we won a Grammy, the album was triple platinum. I had motorcycles and cars. I called the Gucci store in Atlanta, and I was like, ‘Hey, will y’all close it down if I bring my friends?’ And I’m smiling but that’s stupid. We released our next album and it was, like, a flop”.

Smith’s then-girlfriend advised him to just linger around Paramount near The Arsenio Hall Show studio in the hopes of meeting someone powerful while he was in difficulty and despairing. Listening to his fiancée led him to Quincy Jones’ house, where he was immediately invited to audition. Will stated of the impromptu audition, “I was like f*** it then. I said yes and I let it rip and I got to the end and everyone’s clapping.”

Smith went on to audition for Jones and former NBC president Brandon Tartikoff, who both liked what he saw. Following the audition, lawyers walked out to a limousine to draft a contract for Fresh Prince. Work on the show’s pilot began three months later, he added.

“So, the moral of the story is always say ‘yes,'” Smith said. “And, I guess, listen to your girlfriend.”

From 1990 through 1996, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air aired for six seasons.

Meanwhile, on the professional front, he has a lot of movies on his plate. He will soon be seen in the film Aladdin, in which he will play the character of Genie. The film is set to hit theaters in 2019. The Bright star will also reprise his role as Deadshot in the Suicide Squad sequel, which is set to hit theaters in 2019.