Willow Smith Opens Up About Cutting, Shocking Jada
During an episode of her mother’s Facebook Watch show, Red Table Talk, Willow Smith talked about a dark period of her life when she cut herself. The 17-year-old said it took place during the time of her life when she released “Whip My Hair” and that she hasn’t done it in about five years. Her shocked mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, asked Willow where she cut herself, and her daughter revealed some small scars on her wrists. She reported that only one friend was aware of her self-mutilation.
The May 14 episode of the show was titled “Surviving Loss,” and Willow felt like she lost her sanity during that time of her life. Vibe reported on her description of a time when her fame was growing at an amazing rate, but she felt self-doubt and crushing pressure. It all happened at the young age of 10 when Smith stopped taking singing lessons and wondered if she could do anything else and pondered things like her purpose. She explained that she started listening to dark music and felt like she was “plunged into this black hole.”
The singer talked about how she felt like the successful person that the world saw was so different from how she felt inside. Cutting was a way of physically touching the pain that she kept from her family. Willow eventually came to see her self-mutilation as “actually psychotic” and stopped.
Willow Smith Shocks Mom Jada When She Reveals She Was 'Cutting' Herself Amid Early Success https://t.co/aXWU6AhkPS
— People (@people) May 14, 2018
The May 14 episode of Red Table Talk is the second for the new show. Every episode features three generations in Jada Pinkett Smith’s family — herself, her daughter Willow, and her mother Adrienne Banfield-Morris. Each week will feature a discussion about some aspect of Pinkett Smith’s life. Both episodes that have aired so far have been real and raw conversations. Last week’s premiere episode included the first wife of Pinkett Smith’s husband Will Smith, Sheree Zampino. The two were very open about how they felt when Jada began dating Smith before his divorce was final, and Jada acknowledged that she was sorry and regretted that decision. The two women went on to talk about the challenges of co-parenting Will and Sheree’s child, Tre. In today’s discussion about loss, along with Willow’s revelation of cutting during a dark period of her life, Jada revealed that she still gets angry about the death of her friend Tupac Shakur. You can view the complete show below.
https://www.facebook.com/redtabletalk/videos/564337010632445/
