The last couple of months have been very hard for the Smith family. Although one of the most powerful and renowned families in Hollywood, they have been facing extreme criticism and judgement from the public after the infamous Oscar slap incident. Jada Pinkett’s internet series, Red Table Talk, has also been under extreme scrutiny, so it was no surprise when the fans caught the wind of Willow’s past mental health struggles and her mother’s role in them.
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Willow Smith opens up
Will Smith’s younger daughter opened up on the Red Table Talk and said that she suffered from severe anxiety when she was younger. In this particular episode, she was accompanied by Ireland Baldwin where both the child stars discussed the struggles of being the children of superstars. Ireland Baldwin, daughter of Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin shared her childhood experience of facing media scrutiny from a young age. Willow Smith admitted that she has had to learn to 'forgive' her mother Jada Pinkett Smith for ignoring her anxiety when it came up and not taking it seriously.
The young singer recalls:
Whew. That was hard. I feel like when I was growing up, she didn't understand my anxiety. Because she, growing up, had seen her friends die. She'd been through so much that my problems seemed...Smaller.
Kim Basinger + Ireland Baldwin: Living with Anxiety, Panic Attacks + PhobiasRTT Exclusive: Oscar winner Kim Basinger and her daughter Ireland Baldwin join the Table for their first ever interview together. They open up about their crippling anxiety, panic attacks, phobias and mental health issues that impact millions. Ireland reveals the effects of her parents' bitter, public divorce and how she learned to heal after hitting her breaking point.
Posted by Red Table Talk on Monday, April 25, 2022
The Smith’s anxiety
Willow also discloses that her mother suffered from the same disorder as well and didn’t even realise it until much later.
It was very frustrating for me as a child, because I thought, 'How can you not see my internal, emotional struggle?'
However, Willow says that she has since addressed this period of her life and her regrets with her mother.
But very recently, we had a discussion, and she told me, 'I didn't know I had anxiety myself. She'd been pushing it away for so many years like she had no idea. So I had to forgive her a little bit for saying, 'Yes, yes, yes, I understand, but it's really not that bad.'
This article is translated from Oh! My Mag FR.
Read more:
⋙ Will Smith: Jaden and Willow’s unexpected response after Smith’s slap at the Oscars
⋙ Jada Pinkett's lover dedicates a song to her as her relationship with Will Smith falls apart
⋙ Will Smith and Jada: Couple could have 'ugliest divorce in showbiz history'
