Will Smith says daughter Willow’s shaved head taught him a lessons

Jada Pinkett Smith (L), her daughter Willow Camille Reign Smith (R) and husband actor Will Smith, arrive for the premiere of “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” in New York June 7, 2012. (REUTERS)

Will Smith opened up about fatherhood and lessons he’s learned from being a dad.

The actor appeared on Jay-Z’s “Footnotes of Adnis” and described the moment he and wife Jada Pinkett Smith discovered their daughter, Willow, had shaved her head in 2012.

“We came downstairs and she had shaved her head bald,” Smith recalled. “She shaved her head bald in the middle of her ‘Whip My Hair’ tour. I was like, ‘Oh, s–t.'”

Willow had told her father halfway through the tour that she wanted out. He insisted she continue with the planned shows, prompting the then 11-year-old to take drastic measures.

“I’m looking at that girl and I’m like, ‘Got it. I understand. You will not have this trouble out of me ever again. Let’s go, baby. We can go,'” Smith said.

Smith added seeing his daughter with a shaved head made him realize he couldn’t rely on the parenting style his father used, which he described as strict.

“For me, it was that soldier that was pushing and wasn’t paying any attention whatsoever to what was going on emotionally with this beautiful little creature in front of me,” Smith said. “That was the first part of the collapsing of my father’s suit that I was wearing that wasn’t mine.”

Mom Jada Pinkett Smith addressed her daughter’s shaved head back in 2012 and defended the haircut. “The question why I would let Willow cut her hair, first the let must be challenged. This is a world where women [and] girls are constantly reminded that they don’t belong to themselves — that their bodies are not their own, nor their power or self-determination. I made a promise to endow my little girl with the power to always know that her body, spirit and her mind are her domain,” the actress wrote in a 2012 Facebook post.

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