Willow Smith Opens Up About How Fame Caused Her Problems

Willow Smith at the Hello Soho! Bershka Bsk Pop-Up with Willow Smith, New York, 27 Oct 2017
Willow Smith at the Hello Soho! Bershka Bsk Pop-Up with Willow Smith, New York, 27 Oct 2017. Photo by Griffin Lipson/BFA/REX/Shutterstock (9177833cp)

Willow Smith has opened up with regards to her battles with depression in a new emotional interview.

The 17-year-old daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith burst to fame as a 10 year old with the hit “Whip My Hair.”

Many youth today associate being famous with happiness and glamour. Willow has however revealed that experiencing fame at such a young age actually caused her immense problems.

“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 said.

“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. And after all of that kinda settled down, and it was like a kind of lull.”

Explaining why she turned to self-harm, she said: “I honestly felt like I was experiencing so much emotional pain but my physical circumstances weren’t reflecting that.”