Jada Pinkett Smith knows all about being shamed in the public eye. However, the latest episode of Red Table Talk heard the star talk about being mom-shamed in a discussion with daughter, Willow Smith, and mom, Adrianne Banfield-Norris.
"I have had my fair share of mom shaming. With Willow, I think the first time I got hardcore criticism, when you first cut your hair, there was a firestorm," she said on the Tuesday (October 13) episode. "Looking at how my children were being affected, that’s what counts. When people are like, 'I can’t believe you shaved Willow’s head,' if they could have seen this child’s expression of freedom, looking at her hair falling to the ground."
"Me as a mom looking at that, experiencing that with her, there's nothing anyone could say to me to tell me that it was wrong," she continued. "Not one person, because I was there, I was looking at her, I saw her face, I knew the journey she and I took together to get to that point. It didn't matter what anybody said."
Aside from the head shaving incident, Jada also spoke about being criticized for choosing to homeschool Willow and Jaden. "I would have gotten shamed for leaving you here and not being with you. They weren't raised typically and I think, especially for our community, it was something new,” she confessed, to which Willow echoed some of the criticism she received. "It's not your fault, your mother should have taught you better, it's not your fault you're crazy.'"
When it comes to Jaden, Jada said she received "hardcore" shaming over his individual sense of fashion. "I think as Jaden got older, when he did the Louis Vuitton thing, he's wearing a skirt and then he isn’t what people consider your typical Black man, what's that supposed to mean?" she asked. "It's something we as a community need to learn to let go of. I know people felt like it's dangerous, you are doing your kids a disservice. I knew that self confidence is what helped me to survive."
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