The Smith family is one that will go down in American history as one that was unique, full of success and definitely one that has been open about whatever they’ve faced together. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s parenting of their children has been one of the other topics discussed about the family in the press. With all that’s going on, one wonders how the children were affected. Some insight into their parenting style by Will has provided a closer look at their opinions of raising celebrity children.
Business moves definitely run in the Smith family, with Will having worked with his son Jaden Smith as an actor on projects and with Willow being one of the co-hosts on her mother’s Facebook Watch show, Red Table Talk.
Jaden Smith had been working over the years to set himself up as more than a musician and actor that is following in his father’s footsteps. He’s taken some creative leaps throughout his young career and now the latest move seems to align more with his sister – switching to the use of simply their first name as a form of their artistry.
Fans took note last year of Jaden’s seeming change to his persona and online identities across most of his platforms. While he never seemed to overtly make a statement, the musician started to drop the “Smith” portion of his moniker, choosing to leave the solitary Jaden (stylized in all caps) as his preferred name going forward – much like his sister has.
“That’s strong. Willow. You feel like you don’t have to say your last name. You’re just Willow. I create different characters for myself and that’s also one of the reasons I love Bowie so much, but I create different characters for myself and it’s like, Jaden, that’s music and Jaden Smith, that’s 501(c)(3), that’s acting in movies. I wanted to just make that little distinction there, just a little bit, so that I could just … different things are happening.”
HBO Max has announced that Jaden’s father’s iconic sitcom family is reuniting for a special to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Fans were surprised to see the original Aunt Viv, Janet Hubert-Whitten, back for the special, as she’s been very vocal about her exit from the show. It’s great timing, as Bel-Air, breakout director Morgan Cooper’s dark, drama tinged, self-made The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot, has officially been picked up for two seasons at Peacock.
It was during the filming of his now iconic show that Will met Jaden and Willow’s mother, Jada Pinkett Smith. Despite their marital troubles as of late, the parents have always been very supportive of the non-traditional choices that their children make – partially due to their upbringing and the freedom that their celebrity parents gave them.
Dear Will,
— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) June 21, 2020
There are so many things that I haven’t and don’t get right but there is one thing I got really right and that’s choosing you as the Father of my children. pic.twitter.com/TnGeJYiFHG
They’ve addressed their children in the press, much like they’ve had to do recently for their own marriage relationship, and Will’s not been shy about his thoughts about his children – and what others think.
When an interviewer praised Jaden and Willow’s “freedom of expression” and asked Smith if it was something that Will and Jada “consciously encouraged them to have,” Will replied jokingly with a laugh, “Yeah, I think it may have been a mistake.”
“I think we might have gone too far,” he repeated when talking to BBC interviewer A. Dot. “Jaden is 100 percent fearless, he will do anything. So as a parent it’s scary, it’s really terrifying — but he is completely willing to live and die by his own artistic decisions and he just doesn’t concern himself with what people think.”
Ultimately, with Jaden now the CEO of his own water company and Willow doing new music finally, years after famously quitting while in her teens and with a hit single, the Smith family seems to be fine. Will chalked it up to a major item a few years ago in an interview with Haute Living.
“We respect our children the way we would respect any other person.“
