Willow Smith reveals to mum Jada Pinkett Smith that she used to cut herself
The musician said it started after she released her first single "Whip My Hair"
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jada Pinkett Smith's daughter Willow Smith revealed she began self-harming after the release of her hit single "Whip My Hair" at nine years old on Jada's new Facebook series Red Table Talk.
On Monday's episode titled "Surviving Loss," the 17-year-old musician opened up to her mother and grandmother Adrienne Banfield Jones about cutting herself to cope with loss.
Willow said that the fame that came from "Whip My Hair" led her to a "dark place."
"I would have to say I honestly feel like I lost my sanity at one point,” she said. “It was after that whole ‘Whip My Hair’ thing and I had just stopped doing singing lessons and I was kind of just in this grey area of, ‘Who am I? Do I have a purpose? Is there anything I can do besides this?’"
She explained that the confusion she felt led her to self-harm: "After the tour and the promotion and all of that, they wanted me to finish my album. And I was like, I’m not gonna do that. After all of that kind of settled down, I was listening to a lot of dark music and it was just so crazy."
Willow said she fell into a "black hole" and was "cutting myself and doing crazy things."
Jada was shocked by Willow's reveal, claiming she had never suspected anything.
"What?" she said. "Really? When were you cutting yourself? I didn’t see that part? Cutting yourself where?"
Her daughter then went onto show her scars on her inner arms saying, "You can't even see it. There’s still a little something there. Totally lost my sanity for a moment there."
Willow admitted no one in her family knew what she was dealing with and that she only told one friend.
"I honestly felt like I was experiencing so much emotional pain but my physical circumstances weren’t reflecting that," she explained.
Willow immediately stopped cutting herself when she realised it was "psychotic."
She proudly said she hasn't self-harmed in five years.