Will Smith says he wants his kids to experience ‘as much trauma as they can’

WILL Smith tells news.com.au he has an interesting way of dealing with the negativity his kids face.

‘Dude, you can’t wear that’

THERE isn’t much that shocks Will Smith but when his teenage son Jaden started wearing skirts, he was more than a little surprised.

“Jaden is possibly the most well-adjusted person I have ever met in my life,” he told news.com.au. “He went to a girl’s prom and wore a white Batman outfit and I said to him, ‘Dude, you can’t wear that’,” he laughs. Jaden also wore the ‘albino Batman’ outfit at Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s wedding.

The epic batman outfit Jaden wore to his school formal and Kim and Kanye’s wedding.

“He is so completely comfortable and confident in who he is and when I look at him, I really admire that. Jaden has his own clothing line [MSFTSrep] and then he started wearing a skirt.” Smith shakes his head.

“Then I was like, ‘OK. You cannot wear a skirt.’ He said to me, ‘Dad, it’s fine. It’s going to be so hot all the kids will be wearing it.’ I said, ‘No, the kids are not going to do it because their parents will have sense enough to not let them do it.’ But he’s confident in who he is and who he wants to be.”

It seems Jaden might be onto something. The fashion world was so impressed with his gender-bending style that he’s now the face of Louis Vuitton Womenswear.

Jaden Smith (right) pictured in the new Louis Vuitton women’s fashion campaign. Picture: Splash/Louis Vuitton

Smith’s kids have been the target of criticism for myriad reasons, including then-13-year-old Willow’s provocative photos on Instagram of her on a bed lying next to 20-year-old actor Moises Arias. More recently, Jaden campaigned against attending school because he felt there was more to be learnt outside of the classroom than formal education could teach him.

The photo of 13-year-old Willow Smith that caused an uproar. Picture: Instagram.

So how does Smith deal with the negativity towards his offspring?

“I want them to experience as much trauma as they can without them getting broken. The world is hard so I want them to be able to hear people’s opinions and take what people say and what people think and grant people their own views without that breaking their self-confidence.

With Willow, she’s a 15-year-old girl so it’s a little tougher, and she has had to make it a point to not take it in as much as possible, and my older son, Trey, who’s 23, doesn’t get it as much.”

Controversy is no stranger to the Smith family with rumours that he and wife Jada Pinkett Smith are either practicising Scientologists or ex-Scientologists and that the couple is in an “open marriage”.

Most recently, Pinkett Smith announced she would neither be attending the Academy Awards nor watching, perhaps prompted by Smith failing to be nominated for the upcoming sports drama Concussion. Smith has earned two previous Academy Award nominations: in 2002 for Ali and 2007 for The Pursuit of Happyness.

In Concussion, Smith plays Dr. Bennet Omalu, the Nigerian forensic pathologist who first identified chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease which many American football players suffer from due to repeated blows to the head.

In Concussion, Will Smith plays Dr Bennet Omalu, who was the first to publish findings of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in NFL players. Picture: Melinda Sue Gordon/Columbia Pictures

How does Smith feel about playing a doctor who insists that this multi-billion dollar industry is potentially lethal to its participants?

“I’m a football fan and I’m also a football dad,” he says. “But the movie has been well-received by football players.

“Science is irrefutable and the movie acts as a compilation more than a revelation. I think the NFL will come to the table now to not resist but to begin by trying to solve the problem.”

Whatever criticism the Smith family comes under, there is no denying their success — as individuals and as a family.

“I’m turning a corner in my life and in my career. I’m 47, I have a 23-year old, a 17-year old and a 15-year old and life is good. I’m laughing and I’m enjoying myself and I’m looking forward to pushing myself even more,” he says.

One year shy of celebrating his 20-year wedding anniversary, has he given the big day any thought?

“Oh yeah. We want to do something big. It was a rough road getting to 20 years and we are damn sure going to celebrate,” he laughs.

Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith: Still going strong after 20 years and countless rumours. Picture: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Originally published as Will Smith says he wants his kids to experience ‘as much trauma as they can’