Hollywood actor Will Smith’s upcoming memoir is out soon and the ‘Men in Black’ star has revealed more about his family life through a new excerpt.
In a portion of the book ‘Will’, shared by People magazine, the father of three opened up about the heartbreak he felt when his son Jaden took a beating in the press due to their 2013 movie ‘After Earth’.
“‘After Earth’ was an abysmal box office and critical failure,” Smith wrote. “And what was worse was that Jaden took the hit. Fans and the press were absolutely vicious; they said and printed things about Jaden that I refuse to repeat. Jaden had faithfully done everything that I’d instructed him to do, and I had coached him into the worst public mauling he’d ever experienced.”
This led Jaden, a young teen at the time, to ask to be emancipated.
“We never discussed it, but I know he felt betrayed. He felt misled, and he lost his trust in my leadership,” Smith added. “At 15 years old, when Jaden asked about being an emancipated minor, my heart shattered. He ultimately decided against it, but it sucks to feel like you’ve hurt your kids.”
When a minor gets legally emancipated, they are freed from control of their parents or legal guardians and allowed them to take care of their own affairs.
Smith has a son Trey, 29, with his first wife Sheree Zampino; and two children Jaden, 23, Willow, 21, with Jada Pinkett Smith.
In the run up to his book release on November 9, Smith has opened up various aspects of his life such as witnessing his father abuse his mother, and how it deeply scarred him.
“When I was nine years old, I watched my father punch my mother in the side of the head so hard that she collapsed,” Smith wrote. “I saw her spit blood. That moment in that bedroom, probably more than any other moment in my life, has defined who I am.”
