Jada Pinkett Smith got emotional as she recalled the day her son Jaden told her he wanted to move out of their family home, when he was just 15 years old.
The actress opened up about the experience on Monday’s episode of her Facebook Watch series, Red Table Talk.
“At 15 years old, Jaden, and I remember this day specifically, it’s probably one of the most heartbreaking moments of my life,” Pinkett Smith said. “You got to a point where you told me straight up, you were like, ‘Mom, I have to leave here to live my life.’ And I remember thinking to myself, as devastated as I was, I was like, ‘He’s right. The time is now. He’s 15. It’s time for him to leave the house.’”
Jaden joined his mom, sister Willow Smith and grandmother Adrienne Banfield-Jones on the episode.
The 19 year old, whose dad is actor Will Smith, said he needed to escape the Hollywood bubble surrounding the family.
Pinkett Smith told Jaden she was “devastated” by his decision, but grew to accept it because he was so mature.
“It just makes you appreciate being at home, being with your parents, spending quality time with family,” said Jaden, who is a musician, actor and entrepreneur. “You get out into the world and you just understand things.”
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The actress reminded Jaden and Willow that her lifestyle growing up in Baltimore was very different from theirs.
“I had to hustle, that’s what my life was about,” she said. “I was in the streets, selling drugs, doing all kinds of stuff.”
Pinkett Smith added that she now understands why Jaden wanted to leave the nest.
“Being in this lifestyle, in this world is a bubble and he wanted out,” she said. “I understood that because I didn’t have the bubble. I knew what having my freedom outside the bubble, what I gained from that. I knew the sooner I let him go, the faster he was going to come back.”
