Rosario Monachino
People are just finding out why Will Smith‘s kids are named Jaden and Willow.
Smith 55, is one of the biggest actors in Hollywood – he’s starred in hit films such as Men in Black, Independence Day and Aladdin.
He won an Oscar for his role in King Richard, he played the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams.
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Smith’s victory was overshadowed when he slapped Oscars host Chris Rock, as the comedian had made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith – who has since revealed they are no longer romantically together.
In an exclusive interview with Today, the Girls Trip star disclosed that she and Smith have lived ‘completely different’ lives since 2016.
She said: “Why it fractured… that – that’s a lot of things.
“By the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying. I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be.
“I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce. We will work through whatever.
“I just haven’t been able to break that promise.”
Smith and his wife, who have been married since 1997, share two children: Jaden, 25, and Willow, 23.
The Emancipation actor also shares a son Trey, 31, with Sheree Zampino.
Trey, alongside Smith’s other children, have all carved out successful careers in the public eye.
Jaden starred in the films Pursuit of Happyness and After Life alongside his dad – but he’s probably most famous for his role in The Karate Kid.
He’s also carved himself a career in the music industry, releasing his debut album ‘Syre’ in 2017. While in 2022, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year as a featured artist on Justin Bieber’s album ‘Justice’.
Willow has also made a career for herself in the music industry.
She dropped the track ‘Whip My Hair’ in 2010, it peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her 2015 song ‘Wait A Minute!’ became popular on TikTok and was positively praised.
Over her career, Willow has been candid about her struggles – revealing she shaved her head as a child in a wave of rebellion.
She later told People magazine: “It was the perfect way to rebel.
“I was super young, and I had a dream, but all I really wanted to do was sing and I didn’t equate that with all the business and the stress that ended up coming with it.”
She added: “I was just like, ‘Whoa, this is not the life that I want’.”
Smith revealed that Willow changed his parenting style in this moment, adding his daughter ‘saved’ him.
During a conversation for ‘Will Smith: An Evening of Stories with Friends’, the Bright star said (via People): “I was like, ‘I am parenting the s*** out of these kids’.
“I felt like I was doing really, really well.”
Recalling the moment he saw that Willow had shaved her head, he continued: “It was terrifying. I felt like I had been texting looking at my phone and stepped out into the street in front of a bus and Willow snatched me back.
“As strange as it sounds, in that moment I discovered feelings. Because of my childhood, because of the way I was raised … I didn’t care about how I felt so I damn sure didn’t care about how somebody else felt. My feelings didn’t matter in my childhood home. You did what you were told to do.
“I had to really think about the question she was asking me. The question she was really asking was ‘Daddy, does it matter to you how I feel?’ It was so explosive in my mind. That was like a deep, existential question.”
While the Smith family may be incredibly candid about their lives, the subject of Jaden and Willow’s names has never really cropped up – but now the internet is talking about it.
An X (formerly Twitter) user, who goes by the username @kxngtroopa, posted an explanation of the couple’s kids’ names, explaining that they are actually a clever variation of their parents.
Screenshots explaining it further read: “Willard Oliver Smith Jr and Jada Naomi Pinkett Smith.”
The user then pointed out that these sound like ‘Will O’ and ‘Jada N’.
People have taken to the comments, admitting this bit of information has left them mind-blown.
“Please, I’ve just realised after your tweet omg. I thought they were just random names,” one person comments.
Another adds: “Coworker: ‘Jaden and Willow Smith’s names are like their parent’s names, Jada and Will Smith’. It took me until NOW to realise this.”
Seeing the funny side, a third says: “Wait Jada and Will Smith really named their kids Jaden and Willow… Just said ‘I don’t know, I can’t think of anything let’s just add some letters to our names’.”
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