Jada Pinkett Smith ‘Cries’ After Hearing Her Shortcomings As A Parent From Kids Willow, Jaden

Jada Pinkett Smith’s highly popular Facebook series Red Table Talk offers candid discussions between members of the Pinkett Smith family as well as celebrity friends as other guests.

The June 4 episode featured Jada and husband Will Smith’s son, 19-year-old Jaden Smith, as well as the show’s recurring guests, their 17-year-old daughter, Willow Smith, and Jada’s mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris. During the course of the episode, Willow and Jaden candidly opened up about life with their famous parents Will and Jada, and the issues they’ve had to deal with being members of their famous family.

Willow openly explained to Jada that she was very hurt by the way she and Will dealt with her sudden fame after the success of her 2010 hit “Whip My Hair” stating, “I only have one terrible experience, which is ‘Whip My Hair.'” When asked about why her ability to connect with her parents at the time was hindered, Willow stated, “Just that the values of the people around me should have been the opposite. You and daddy should have been like, ‘OK, we value her musical growth and knowledge more than her popularity.'”

Jada said that she and Will having to fight for success is dramatically different from what Willow and Jaden have experienced in their lives. Jada remarked her children have been very blessed since birth. The actress added that she grew up in a rough neighborhood and used to sell drugs. She noted that Will grew up with a “lot of abuse” in his household.

Jada broke down while acknowledging her possible shortcomings as a parent, saying, “You know what? I think parents have to give themselves much more forgiveness. When you become a parent, you have these huge ideals, even for yourself, because we all are coming into parenting with our own childhood traumas. And you’re hoping you can fix all that through your own rearing of your children, and you can’t.”

“Your kids are gonna have their burdens. And even though I see how it might have hurt you, it’s what I knew.”

Red Table Talk often deals with highly personal conversations between Jada and her guests. For example, during an episode, Willow revealed that she used to cut her wrists. She explained, “I would have to say I honestly feel like I lost my sanity at one point.”

“After the tour and the promotion and all of that… they wanted me to finish my album. And I was like, ‘I’m not gonna do that.’ After all of that kind of settled down, and it was like, a lull, I was listening to a lot of dark music and it was just so crazy. I was just plunged into this black hole and I was, like, cutting myself and doing crazy things.”

Red Table Talk airs on Facebook.