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Find out what Willow revealed about growing up with Will and Jada as parents. And learn what happened to her at age 10. Get all the details below.
Willow Smith Felt ‘Finished’ With Fame At Age 10
Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s daughter Willow always felt different than her famous parents. And as she looks back on her life, Willow recalls how their fame impacted her life. But the 21-year-old also emphasized that she longed to control her own destiny by the time she turned 10, noted the Guardian.
And Willow revealed that when she turned 10, she decided she felt finished with fame. The preteen recalled her hit, Whip My Hair, as a triumph. But when it led to a chance to support Justin Bieber on tour, Willow felt exhausted at the end of the final gig in Europe. As a result, she stepped off the stage and told her father Will Smith that she had finished.
“I’m finished, Daddy. I’m ready to go home,” Willow told her father. But Smith informed the 10-year-old that she had not finished because she had agreed to perform gigs in Australia. And Will assumed that the discussion had ended. But then his 10-year-old shocked her father by shaving her head. And Willow threw shade at her parents in recalling how she “felt like I had no control.”
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Willow Smith Wants To Steer Her ‘Own Ship’ Through Music
Because she lacked control over her choices, Willow “felt so powerless” at age 10, she now admits. “But because I was so young, I didn’t have enough experience for people to trust my opinions. So I just said, ‘I can’t do this.'” As a result, Willow spent several years away from the music studio.
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And for “maybe two or three years when I wasn’t in the studio, I was just going to school and doing my thing, and that was really nice,” recalled Jada’s and Will’s daughter. But then Willow realized how she longed for music. Because she views performing and recording as “a huge joy in my life,” she made a decision.
“And I came to realize I love performing and recording. I just wanted to be steering my own ship,” summed up Willow. But that also meant finding a way to form a new relationship with her parents. And she felt frustrated that both Will and Jada ignored her anxiety, interpreting her emotional struggles as tantrums.
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Willow Smith Shades Parents For Ignoring Her Anxiety Struggles
But Willow threw the most shade at Jada for refusing to support her when she struggled to manage her anxiety, reported Essence. “It was rough. I feel like when I was growing up, she didn’t understand my anxiety,” noted Willow. “And that was very frustrating for me as a child. Because I was like, ‘How can you not see my internal and emotional struggle?'”
However, Willow has learned to forgive Jada for minimizing her daughter’s emotional health struggles. And she recalled how the two recently discussed her anxiety. As a result of Jada “pushing it down for so many years, like she had no idea,” Willow felt that she could “forgive her a little bit.”
But the 21-year-old also noted that her mother downplayed her daughter’s anxiety. And she described Jada as “being like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah… I get it, but it’s really not that bad.’ Because she had been through so much stuff that my issues, to her, kind of felt like…[minimal].”
Will Smith Admits His Parenting Errors With Daughter Willow
However, in the wake of pushing his daughter to perform at age 10, Will now feels regrets. And in his recent memoir, he admitted that he focused more on putting Willow in the spotlight than supporting her emotionally. For instance, Will recalled that he thought parenting meant “pushing and prodding and cajoling people into the vision I had.” As a result, he ignored her anxiety. And Jada also has shared that she experienced “a really difficult time relating” to her daughter’s anxiety.
As for Will slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, Willow has avoided commenting. “I love my dad,” she responds to questions about the shocking scene at the Oscars. And then she adds, “I pretty much love every person I’ve ever met. People are just humans, and humans are complex and beautiful creatures who deserve to be creative and to be respected and loved and … yeah, that’s pretty much it,” sums up Willow.
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