Will Smith Reveals The One Thing He Regrets About How He Raised His Children Jaden And Willow Smith

Yahoo

23-06-2025

Will Smith just opened up about what he considers a major mistake he made while raising his children, Jaden and Willow Smith, and explained what he'd do it differently if given the chance.
While appearing on "Heart Breakfast with Jamie and Amanda," the iconic actor, who recently returned to music with his new album, "Based on a True Story," admitted that he and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, made a "very terrible" mistake while raising their now-adult children.
"We made a very, very, very terrible mistake with our children, and we went with radical honesty," Smith said. "But don't do it, I'm not advocating for it, I'm not advocating for it," he continued before explaining what that looked like inside his home.
"We made a deal from really young with our kids. The deal was if you tell the truth, you won't get in trouble," he said.
However, that parenting strategy didn't work out for Smith the way he had planned.
According to Smith, telling his children that they'd never get in trouble if they admitted to making a mistake backfired on him.
"Because they do whatever they want and then just come tell you," he added. "It's awful, don't try it. You want your kids to lie, definitely, you don't want to know some of the stuff your kids are thinking of doing."
Smith's most recent comments about his children aren't the first time the blockbuster actor has spoken publicly about them.
In 2024, the "Hitch" performer opened up about the power of showing more of his vulnerable side to his family.
"I think that there is a human elevation that comes out of vulnerability and transparency, and I think that there is a real strength that is acquired through vulnerability," the dad of three said, per PEOPLE. "I absolutely have a warrior's heart. I'm very, very prepared to manage whatever happens in my life. But, with the warrior's heart, the greatest thing you can do, I believe, is you surrender into reality, and you surrender into the difficulty and the hard times."
Smith explained that he began putting this into action with his children when he didn't have the perfect solution to an issue they were having.
"I've been really practicing it with my children," he added. "I'm finding such a different relationship just in being able to say, 'Hey, I don't know, guys. I'm a partner with you in this situation, and I'm not going to pretend I'm Superman. I love you, son, but I don't know.'"
Smith went on to explain the positive shift he saw in his relationship with his children after letting his guard down in front of them.
"... because I'm continuing to push, because I'm continuing to work on myself and I'm continuing to try to get my head around this grand mystery... Because I'm continuing to work, my children are gravitating toward me more," he said.
He continued, "I'm noticing the struggles that I have, the difficulties that I overcome, the things that I learned. Because I am not stopping, my children are not moving away from me. My children are moving closer to me."
According to a previous report from The Blast, Smith's 24-year-old daughter, Willow, has discussed what it was like for her being raised by famous parents growing up, especially how they didn't always acknowledge the "emotional struggle" she faced.
"It was rough," she recalled. "I feel like when I was growing up, she [Jada] didn't understand my anxiety. Because she, growing up, had seen her friends die. She had been through so much stuff that, like my issues to her, kind of felt like [smaller]."
The "Wait a Minute!" singer later revealed, however, that her relationship with her parents, especially her mother Jada, is now in a healthy space.
"Really recently, we had a talk, and she was like, 'I never knew that I actually experienced anxiety,'" she shared. "And she was pushing it down and pushing it down for so many years. Like, she had no idea. So I kind of had to forgive her a little bit for being like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it, but like, it's really not that bad.'"