Jaleel White reacts to ‘Family Matters’ co-stars saying he’s ‘difficult’ to work with: ‘Told not to argue with my elders’

nypost.com:

Andy Cohen Live” this week to promote “Growing Up Urkel,” his newly-published memoir about his life growing up as the nerdy neighbor Steve Urkel on “Family Matters” from 1989 to 1998.During the interview, Andy Cohen asked White how he felt about his co-stars Joe Marie Payton and Reginald VelJohnson claiming he was a handful on set.“They, at one point, said publicly that you were not that easy to work with,” Cohen said. “Did that surprise you to hear?”White didn’t mince his words.“They’re also over 70, and I’ve been told not to argue with my elders from the time I was 12 years old,” he responded. “So you know, with Jo Marie, it’s always like, what day did I catch her on or what day did the interviewer catch her?

I talk about it in the book.”He explained: “So, when you say ‘difficult,’ I’ll be self-aware enough to say, ‘okay.'”Recalling that he started the show when he was around 13 and finished when he was 22, the actor continued, “You know, as a 13-year-old kid, anytime I was called to set, I always brought my basketball.

I dribbled my basketball everywhere, and I can hear the script supervisor to this day, Joyce Webb, going, ‘Oh, here he comes with that basketball.’ It was tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap constantly.”“It annoyed everybody,” Cohen interjected, to which White added, “If that is the extent to which I was called ‘difficult,’ then okay.