Audio By Carbonatix
Will Smith is reflecting on his failures and struggles as a father of three.
Appearing on the Father's Day edition of his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's Facebook Watch series "Red Table Talk," the Hollywood actor spoke candidly about "the real weight of parenting."
According to the "Bad Boys" star, who has Jaden, 21, and Willow, 19, with Pinkett Smith as well as Trey, 27, from his first marriage to Sheree Fletcher, his "fatherhood instincts" kicked in when he was just a child."
From the time I was six years old, I wanted to be a father," the 51-year-old said. "I loved how my family was, but there were massive critical deficiencies in my father's parenting that I wanted to correct. By the time I was 10 years old, I remember looking at my father and thinking I could do it better than him."
During the intimate one-on-one conversation, Smith opened up about a challenging chapter in his relationship with his daughter Willow, which proved to be a transformative experience.
Willow found fame in 2010 at the tender age of 9 with her monster hit "Whip My Hair." But when the gruelling demands of touring started to take their toll, she asked her father if she could quit the 30-date tour.
"She kept asking; she was like, 'Daddy, it doesn't matter how I feel?' And I was like, 'Yes, baby, it does matter how you feel, but you have to finish what you started,'" he told Pinkett-Smith.
On this special Father's Day episode, Jada sits down with Will for one of the most intimate and vulnerable conversations...
Posted by Red Table Talk on Sunday, June 21, 2020
Smith was convinced that he was doing the right thing by his daughter with his "military mindset" until she shaved her head bald in an act of "protest."
Recalling the turning point, he said: "My desire for her was overriding her desire for her, and I had a real epiphany on that and how bad a person will hate you if you keep forcing your wishes onto their life."
He said his daughter's cry for help was the catalyst in changing his parenting style, and she "introduced me to feelings."
Smith also got emotional when reflecting on becoming a father for the first time, at the age of 24.
"I think that was my first moment of the real weight of parenting," he said. "I brought him (Trey) home, and I remember we put him in the bassinet... and it was like stark terror. It was like, 'I'm totally responsible for this life.' I just cried so hard. It makes me teary right now."
Latest Stories
-
Anti-LGBTQ Bill: NDC’s arrogance is worrying – Hassan Tampuli
8 minutes -
Let’s give OSP time to mature, not to scrap it – Hassan Tampuli
12 minutes -
Nigeria convicts 386 Islamist militants in mass trials
17 minutes -
Djibouti president wins election with 97.8% of vote, state media says
22 minutes -
We don’t have mandate to deduct tax from rent allowance of security services personnel – Interior Ministry clarifies
36 minutes -
Ablakwa receives Presidential Special Envoy on Reparations to advance global agenda
53 minutes -
Christina Koch becomes first woman to travel around the moon on Artemis II
1 hour -
Epstein survivors’ calls to meet King Charles and Queen harder to ignore as US visit approaches
1 hour -
UN Secretary-General names Ghana’s Anita Kiki Gbeho as South Sudan envoy
1 hour -
Mali withdraws recognition of Sahrawi Republic, backs Morocco’s autonomy plan
1 hour -
Gov’t distributes over 8,500 laptops to One Million Coders project
1 hour -
Julius Debrah, ‘man to beat’ as NDC’s James Agbey dismisses Musah Dankwah’s polls
1 hour -
GPRTU in Savannah Region to protest alleged eviction in Damongo
2 hours -
Re: Reinsurance does not replace process — A response to the SIGA–SIC defence
2 hours -
Gender Ministry supports Harriet Amuzu in ongoing abuse case
2 hours