Jada Pinkett Smith Reflects on 'Tough' Willow Smith Photo Incident

By Christine Thomasos, Christian Post Reporter Monday, August 04, 2014

Jada Pinkett Smith, the 42-year-old actress and wife to actor Will Smith with whom she shares two children, is reflecting on a photograph controversy involving her youngest child Willow, 13.

In May a picture of Willow seen lying in bed with a 20-year-old actor Moises Arias went viral. After the photograph made its way to Instagram, a number of people spoke out against the image.

While Jada previously addressed the image as harmless, she also spoke about it to Net-a-Porter recently while revealing that a deeper issue existed.

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"Just don't pollute something that's not dirty. It's really tough," Jada told Net-a-Porter. "I feel like the connection to the value of women on a bigger scale has decreased tremendously. Even though you look and go, 'Women have so many opportunities,' it's like, 'Yeah, but at what cost?'"

She went on to speak about wanting happiness for her children.

"I want my kids to be happy and I want them to be themselves. I was saying to a friend the other day, 'Remember, our kids are not us,'" she told the website. "They're not. Sometimes we're trying to fix things that happened to us or projecting [onto them], and that's a terrible, terrible trap."

After the image first went viral, Jada did not hesitate to defend her daughter publicly.

"Here's the deal: There was nothing sexual about that picture or that situation," she told TMZ. "You guys are projecting your trash onto it, and you're acting like covert pedophiles, and that's not cool."

A source reportedly told TMZ why the Smith parents believe Willow is mature enough to make her own decisions.

"Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith believe their daughter is 'very mature' ... enough so to make her own decisions, as long as they don't clearly cross the line," a source reportedly told TMZ last month. "Bottom line … Will and Jada have NO issue with the pic."

Jada Pinkett Smith Talks Controversy Surrounding Willow's Photo