Willow Smith Reveals The Heartbreaking Reason She Struggled To Forgive Her Father
In the latest episode of Jada Pinkett Smith’s social talk show, Red Table Talk, the film and television A-lister chopped up a touchy subject matter that’s worth a listen for ears all around the world: learning to forgive.
Jada and her brother, Caleeb, opened the conversation by discussing their struggle to forgive their late father, Robsol Pinkett, Jr., who struggled with drug addiction and subjected their mother to domestic violence. His sudden overdose death made this struggle even harder as Jada shared that they’d blown up into an argument beforehand due to the resentment of his absence in her younger years up until she made it big in Hollywood. She might not have realized how powerfully she connected with her daughter, Willow Smith, until the young Ardipithecus singer-songwriter surprisingly revealed that she also battled with forgiving Jada and her father, Will Smith, for a hurtful memory in her youth, too.
‘I definitely had to forgive you and daddy for that whole ‘Whip My Hair’ thing,’ she said
The “Whip My Hair” thing she referred to comes after an earlier installment of Red Table Talk, where she admitted to self-harm at 10 years old during her 2010 musical breakthrough. The success of the song placed unbearable amounts of pressure on her, sinking her into a depression that she said led her to cutting her wrists. Willow further explained on the conversation of forgiveness that much of that pressure came from her family, mostly Will, as well.
‘It was mostly daddy because he was so harsh at certain times,’ Willow added
So harsh, she said, that it took her years to “regain trust for not feeling like [she] was listened to, or no one cared what [she] felt during that time.” The “Female Energy” singer didn’t leave herself off the list of people to forgive either. She battled with forgiving herself for the sense of guilt that shadowed her as well. “I felt guilty,” she said. “Because I was like, everyone is trying to make me better—trying to make my dream. But, I didn’t really understand what my dream entailed.”
Cheers to healing, Willow!
Watch her explain her journey with forgiveness in the full episode below.
