‘Horrible stage parents with money and connections’: Will Smith, Jada Smith Called Out For Horrible Parenting, ‘Pimping’ Out Willow and Jaden’s Childhood To Make Them Stars
For a long time, most of us thought the Smith family was as perfect as it gets. Having seemingly loving and obviously rich and successful parents is the dream and the ticket to the perfect life. But sadly, Willow and Jaden Smith had to bear the brunt of being celebrity kids, and it affected them much worse than is imaginable. The kids were robbed of their childhood by over-ambitious parents and it has been a hard journey that the siblings traversed of forgiving their birth-givers, Jada and Will Smith, for pimping them out.
Willow and Jaden Smith, nepo kids against their will
Over the years, it has come to light that more than being parents, Will and Jada Smith played the role of business managers for their kids. They literally stole their children’s childhood by forcing them into the industry.
On the surface, Willow and Jaden Smith seem to be two of the luckiest nepotism kids who easily got their big break in the entertainment business, thanks to their parents’ elite status. They were a prime subject of envy for normal kids who had to jump endless hoops to make even a tiny splash in showbiz and be recognized. But it is now known that Willow and Jaden did not even want the break they got at the time.
Willow was barely a 9-year-old kid when her song Whip My Hair was released in 2010. Quite naturally, many kids looked at her and wished they could switch places and have a hit song instead of her. But, the young singer has herself confessed that she did not want to release the song at the time and was actually forced into it by her father, Will Smith. Willow felt she was too young and did not want to deal with the pressure that fame brings before she was even out of elementary school. However, despite explaining her very valid concerns to her father, he was allegedly adamant in his decision and asked his daughter to get over herself and hit the studios. In an episode of Jada Smith’s talk show Red Table Talk, Willow said,
“I definitely had to forgive you and daddy, you know, for that whole whip my hair thing… It was mostly daddy because he was so like harsh at certain times… trying to regain trust for not feeling like I wasn’t listened to or no one cared what I felt during that time.”
It was Willow’s childhood dream to be a singer but at her own pace. But Will Smith was hell-bent on having a child star as his daughter so much so that he put his selfish desires before that of his daughter’s wishes. So much for Will and Jada Smith’s maxim of “letting the kids do their own thing”. Few would agree that forcing a career on a child is letting them do ‘their own thing’.
Willow’s struggle with mental health
Willow had to struggle with her mental health after she became a so-called celebrity merely at the age of 9. She has become vocal over the recent years about the identity crisis she had to cope with while dealing with her newfound success. On another episode of Red Table Talk, Willow confessed,
“I was kind of like just in this gray area of like who am I, like is there, like do I have a purpose, like is there anything like that I can do besides this.”
Things did not get better for Willow. Will Smith became even more relentless in his control over his daughter’s life. He forced his daughter to sign on to go on tour with Justin Bieber for a month, against her will. When Will refused to take no for an answer, Willow shaved her head as a symbol of protest.
It is hard to imagine that a father would force his progeny into something against their will, ignoring their mental health and their free will. It is especially more shocking because Will Smith himself is from the entertainment industry and he knows the adverse effects all the media attention can have on one’s mind. Willow confessed in several interviews that the combined pressure of fame and having no support system at home pushed her into severe depression, and self-harm became her coping mechanism. She has now recovered after years of therapy but the trauma was so deep that she decided to drop her last name, and now her legal name is only Willow.
Jaden Smith wanted to get emancipated
Jaden Smith suffered a similar fate at the hands of his parents. He got his first major acting role merely when he was 11 years old, in the 2010 movie, The Karate Kid. Much like Willow, Jaden did not want to do the movie either because he wasn’t sure if he was completely ready to step into Hollywood full-time. After all, he was still too young. Although Jaden ended up loving the experience of filming and the media attention afterward, he was mad at his parents for not listening to his wishes and forcing him against his will.
As per several reports, Jaden confessed that he felt betrayed and that he couldn’t trust his parents to have his back. Eventually, the feelings of resentment reached their zenith and Jaden asked to be emancipated from the family when he was 15 years old. Sources claimed that at that time, Jaden couldn’t wait to turn 18 and leave his parents for good and live his life on his own terms. Even though Jaden came around and decided against emancipation, the whole thing brought to light how horrible Will and Jada Smith were as parents.
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Source: YouTube
