Will Smith posted a sweet tribute to his daughter Willow on Sunday, sharing two adorable photos and a funny ‘Daddy / Daughter’ meme.
The 54-year-old Oscar Winner – who is set to star in I Am Legend 2 with Michael B. Jordan – posted a meme that showed a muscular tough guy holding meat up to his mouth with a Bowie knife. ‘The women who can command me hasn’t been born yet,’ read the caption, but then the second half of the meme cut to ‘4 years later’ and showed the same tough guy wearing a tutu and fairy wings, having a tea party with his daughter.
‘That Daddy / Daughter thing is REAL!’ wrote Will in his caption, earning a lovestruck emoji from Willow in the comments section.The Emancipation star went on to include a pair of loving images that showed the close bond between him and his 22-year-old daughter. Close bond: Will Smith, 54, posted a sweet tribute to his 22-year-old daughter Willow on Sunday, sharing two adorable photos and a funny ‘Daddy / Daughter’ meme
One of Will’s images showed him embracing Willow on a field, while his other picture showed the pair sharing a tender moment during a photoshoot.’This has been probably the greatest period of my fatherhood,’ Will told People last year in December. ‘I was an okay father for my first son. I got a little bit better with Jaden. I got my sea legs with Willow.’
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star also has two sons: 24-year-old Jaden with Jada Pinkett Smith, and 30-year-old Trey Smith with his ex-wife Sheree Zampino. Referencing his infamous Oscars slap, Will explained: ‘The last couple of years of my life, I have sufficiently suffered enough to have real wisdom. The last year with my kids has been the best parenting.’The Bad Boys star went on to share that ‘it’s okay to make mistakes, and the best thing you can do for your kids is to learn and grow yourself.
‘When we’re trying to force our kids to do stuff and understand things that we didn’t do, that we didn’t understand, they see the bulls**t. And they lose respect.’I found a place with my kids where I could say, “I don’t know,” and “Let’s figure it out, together. Let’s go find out together but we’re doing this as a team.” ‘
Tight-knit: One of Will’s images showed him and Willow sharing a tender moment during a photoshoot. ‘That Daddy / Daughter thing is REAL!’ wrote Will in his caption, earning a lovestruck emoji from Willow in the comments section. Too cute: The Oscar Winner posted a meme that showed a muscular tough guy holding meat up to his mouth with a Bowie knife. ‘The women who can command me hasn’t been born yet,’ read the caption, but then the second half of the meme cut to ‘4 years later’ and showed the same tough guy wearing a tutu and fairy wings, having a tea party with his daughter
Smith opened up about struggling to ‘connect and love on a deep level,’ and discussed how his relationship with Willow helped to open his eyes. ‘I guess I noticed a little bit of a lack in my ability to connect and love on a deep level. I started noticing it with Willow. Willow was the one that was like, “Daddy, you’re not.”
‘I noticed that I wasn’t as proficient at connecting and loving somebody. I could provide – I’ll lay it out, that’s the easy part. But in those moments, when my kids were reaching for me, I was failing at the depth that they were seeking.’ And being Will Smith’s daughter hasn’t always been easy for Willow, who rocketed to fame at the age of ten with her breakout hit song Whip My Hair. Willow was opening for Justin Bieber on his world tour in 2011 when she walked off stage and told her father, ‘I’m finished Daddy. I’m Ready to go home.’
Will wanted his pre-teen superstar to continue performing and finish her commitment, as she still had to open up for Bieber in Australia. Fed up with fame, Willow shaved her head in defiance – a moment which Smith described in his eponymous 2021 memoir Will. He wrote, ‘My jaw nearly dislocated, dislodged, and shattered on the kitchen floor: my world-dominating, hair-whipping, future global superstar was totally bald.’ Will Smith and Martin Lawrence announce 4th ‘Bad Boys’ movie. Parenting prime time: ‘This has been probably the greatest period of my fatherhood,’ Will told People last year in December. ‘I was an okay father for my first son. I got a little bit better with Jaden. I got my sea legs with Willow’
Love all around: ‘I always knew that I was different from my parents,’ Willow told The Guardian last year. She went on to deflect a question about her father’s meltdown at the Oscars, saying, ‘I love my dad. I pretty much love every person that I’ve ever met…’In an interview with The Guardian last year, Willow described having ‘no control’ during that period of her life, which ‘wasn’t cool for me.’ ‘I felt so powerless,’ she explained. ‘But because I was so young, I didn’t have enough experience for people to trust my opinions. So I just said, “I can’t do this.” ‘Willow’s parents have been open their shortcomings when it came to raising Willow, with Jada speaking about their issues in an episode of Red Table Talk last year.
Jada said that she ‘had a really difficult time relating’ to her daughter’s anxiety because she ‘didn’t know what it’s like to be a child under hot lights.’ ‘I always knew that I was different from my parents,’ Willow told The Guardian, and she went on to deflect a question about her father’s meltdown at the Oscars. ‘I love my dad,’ she said, adding: ‘I pretty much love every person that I’ve ever met. People are just humans, and humans are complex and beautiful creatures who deserve to be creative and to be respected and loved…’Willow also described her parents as her ‘best friends’ and ‘wonderful people.’
‘My parents are my best friends. They are both wonderful people. I love them not because they are my parents but because they are Will and Jada, who have their own beautiful, complex and amazing minds and hearts.’
Family man: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star also has two sons in addition to Willow: 24-year-old Jaden (center) with Jada Pinkett Smith, 51, and 30-year-old Trey Smith (far left) with his ex-wife Sheree Zampino
