Will Smith thinks his Divorce is the ‘Ultimate Failure’

Will Smith: I don't do anything purely for fun, my day-to-day schedule is "structured"

Will Smith, American actor and rapper has described his divorce from first wife Sheree Zampino, as the ‘Ultimate Faliure.’

 

Will married Sheree in 1992 and they welcomed their son, Trey, when the Fresh Prince star was just 24.

 

They split two years later and he described the divorce as the “ultimate failure” of his adult life.



The 51years-old actor, also talked about his father, Willard’s tough parenting style and the trauma of watching him beat his mother growing up.

 

“From the time I was 6 years old I wanted to be a father,” Smith began the conversation on his evolution as a dad.”

 

“I loved how my family was but there were massive, critical deficiencies in my father’s parenting that I wanted to correct.”

 

He described his father, who he referred to as Daddy-O, as a strict disciplinarian, who he implies was, at times, abusive toward his mother. Smith admitted that it caused a rift between them when he was younger. But, he did appreciate some of his dad’s wisdom and was able to glean what he wanted to replicate and what he didn’t.



“I learned that everywhere is school. That anything you do, you have to do it well. Getting good grades isn’t above cleaning the kitchen,” the Bad Boy actor said.

 

Will Smith revisited the difficult memories during an emotional chat with wife Jada Pinkett Smith on her Facebook series Red Table Talk.

 

Discussing their 1995 divorce – which turned messy due to a custody battle – Will admitted: “Divorce was the worst thing in my adult life, divorce was the ultimate failure for me.”

 

“I’ve been hurt a lot in my adult life, but I don’t think anything touches the failure of getting divorced from my two-year-old son’s mother.”



Then at 24 years old, he got his initial taste of fatherhood, with his first son, Willard Carroll “Trey” Smith III, whom he had with his now ex-wife Sheree Zampino. Smith was brought to tears talking about the experience.

Will Smith thinks his Divorce the 'Ultimate Failure'
Will Smith thinks his Divorce the ‘Ultimate Failure’

When Trey was born, Will told Jada that his first thought was, “I can’t do it, I’m not the guy.”

 

Smith and Jada also addressed the criticism they received from parenting Trey, along with their two other children together, Jaden and Willow—particularly the fact that they let their kids work.



“Our family has been under the public microscope for a long time. I think people didn’t understand why we both valued that idea…of the kids going to work,” Jada said. “People thought that we were forcing our kids to work,” Will added on.

Will Smith thinks his Divorce the 'Ultimate Failure'
Jada Pinkett Smith

“And that it was part of education of life for them in so many ways,” the 48-year-old mother of two said.

 

To make up for the time he spent away from his children because of the traveling Will did as an actor, the Smiths opted for homeschooling. “My kids, being with me, is of a higher value than sitting in a classroom.”

 

And when it came to his children’s personal and professional pursuits, there’s no surprise that they inherited their parents’ combined all-star talent.



Smith’s parenting style, which he inherited from his own father, influenced his kids and their achievements in their careers, he explains. For the most part, he said his contributions worked out.

 

He described Jaden working tirelessly for his role in Karate Kid, recalling that Jaden refused to stop working until he could finally master a split. But when it came to his last child—and only daughter, Willow—she fiercely rejected her father’s hopes that she’d go all in with her music career after she released Whip My Hair in 2010 at nine years old.

Will Smith thinks his Divorce the 'Ultimate Failure'
Will Smith thinks his Divorce the ‘Ultimate Failure’

“I saw how much I was making and forcing and pushing the things that I wanted and in that moment I just saw it was starting to hurt her,” the 51-year-old said when it came to Willow and his dream for her to earn a number one record. “My desire for her was overriding her desire for her.”



Concluding on how to be a good parent; “There are no rules,” Will said to Jada about parenting. “It’s more art than there is science, and, you know, I love what we’re painting.”

__________________________ Join us on WhatsApp ______________________________

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *