Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith questioned over picture of daughter Willow with Moises Arias

JADA Pinkett Smith says there is ‘nothing sexual’ about a picture of her 13-year-old daughter on a bed with an older, semi-naked man. But child protection authorities are making up their own minds.

JADA Pinkett Smith said there was “nothing sexual” about a picture of her 13-year-old daughter on a bed with an older, semi-naked man.

But the Los Angeles community services department have decided to make up their own minds.

Eyebrows were raised when the black and white image of singer Willow Smith and 20-year-old actor Moises Arias was posted on social media earlier this month.

The black-and-white image showed Willow fully clothed but lying on a bed with a shirtless Arias under the covers.

Controversy ... the image of 13-year-old Willow Smith and 20-year-old Moises Arias.

On May 7, Jada Pinkett Smith slammed those who had criticised the image.

“Here’s the deal. There was nothing sexual about that picture or that situation. You guys are projecting your trash onto it. You’re acting like covert pedophiles and that’s not cool,” she said.

But the Smiths appeared to be deliberately courting controversy, with a shirtless and possibly sexualised image of Willow’s 15-year-old brother Jaden released the very next week.

In that image — also taken on a bed — Jaden is seen wearing only a baseball cap and boxer shorts while rumoured girlfriend Kylie Jenner holds him from behind.

The leg of a third, unseen person is also in the frame of the image, which was posted to Jenner’s Tumblr account on May 14 with the caption “Ksss Ahhh ... 2014”.

Pushing it ... the Tumblr image of Kylie Jenner, Jaden Smith and an unseen friend.

Now, the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services has announced it is investigating the circumstances surrounding the image of Willow and Arias.

“The investigation was formally opened last week and is being taken very seriously by the department,” RadarOnline quoted a department insider as saying.

“Will and Jada Pinkett Smith have been extremely cooperative with officials. Of course, they aren’t happy that their parenting skills are under scrutiny, but they understand.”

The source said the department wanted to talk with Willow’s family as well as Arias, and the investigation could last “at least a month”.

Last year the Smiths drew criticism for Willow’s single Summer Fling, the video of which featured the then 12-year-old singer interacting with an older boy and singing “Don’t really care what we do tonight ... Good night kisses if the mood is right”.

Critics also queried whether the term “fling” was appropriate subject matter for a song sung by a girl who was not yet a teenager.

The Annie Leibovitz portrait of Miley Cyrus from Vanity Fair.

On the red carpet ... Willow Smith at an event in Los Angeles in January. Picture: Angela Weiss

The sexualisation of young girls in the music industry is a recurring issue in the media.

Miley Cyrus and photographer Annie Leibovitz were lambasted after a semi-naked photograph of the then 15-year-old performer was published in Vanity Fair in 2008.

After the uproar, Cyrus said she was “embarrassed” by the image

“I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed,” the Huffington Post quoted her as saying.

Leibovitz said she was sorry the photograph had been “misinterpreted”.

“The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful,” she said.

Coincidentally, the TV show that made Cyrus a star, Hannah Montana, also featured Moises Arias, the man in the Willow Smith image.

COMMENT BELOW: Is the picture of Willow Smith as innocent as Jada Pinkett Smith claims?

Originally published as Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith questioned over picture of daughter Willow with Moises Arias