Over the last several years, Willow Smith has really made a name for herself in the music world. Sure, she’s the child of two of the most well-known stars in Hollywood, but when you think about this new generation of punk rock, one of the first names to come to mind is Willow Smith.
And while she has been mainly focused on herself and her work, Willow shared with Billboard the epiphany she had when she watched her beloved father, Will Smith, slap Chris Rock, an old family friend, on the Oscar stage.
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Willow Smith Says Watching Her Dad Slap Chris Rock on Oscar Stage Made Her Take a Hard Look at Herself
As Willow admits, while the media circus that ensued following slapping didn’t “rock” her, her own “internal demons” did. Which, quite honestly, doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
After all, Willow comes from a family that prides itself on doing the work to fix a problem when it arises. You may recall the tweet Smith shared shortly after Will Smith resigned from the Academy.
“The meaning of life is found in challenge. Life is a series of reactions,” she wrote, clearly already in deep thought. Now she’s opening up a bit more about how she felt after the slap was heard around the world.
“I see my whole family as being human and I love and accept them for all their humanness,” Willow explained to Billboard.
“Because of the position that we’re in, our humanness sometimes isn’t accepted, and we’re expected to act in a way that isn’t conducive to a healthy human life and isn’t conducive to being honest.”
Willow’s comments come not long after her dad broke his three-month silence on Friday, July 29 by sharing a video on Instagram. In the video, Smith apologized again to Chris, his family, and the other people he hurt because of his actions.
“I’ve reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he’s not ready to talk. And when he is, he will reach out. So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable,” Smith said to Chris in the video. “And I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
Smith continued adding, “I can say to all of you there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment. There’s no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults.”
“Disappointing people is my central trauma. I hate when I let people down. So it hurts me psychologically and emotionally to know that I didn’t live up to people’s image and impression of me. The work I’m trying to do is — I am deeply remorseful — and I’m trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself. Right? I’m human, and I made a mistake and I’m trying not to think of myself as a piece of sh*t.”
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Chris responded through a source saying he’s done thinking about the whole ordeal and does not have the need to talk with Will about it further.