Will Smith describes ‘heart-shattering’ moment son Jaden asked to become emancipated aged 15

Actor said his son had ‘lost his trust in my leadership’

Will Smith has opened up about the emotional moment when his son Jaden asked to become an emancipated minor at the age of 15.

Writing in an extract of his new memoir Will seen by People, the Men in Black actor described how his “heart shattered” when he heard the news.

It came after the pair co-starred in the 2013 film After Earth, which Will described as “an abysmal box office and critical failure”.

“And what was worse was that Jaden took the hit,” he wrote. “Fans and the press were absolutely vicious; they said and printed things about Jaden that I refuse to repeat.

“Jaden had faithfully done everything that I’d instructed him to do, and I had coached him into the worst public mauling he’d ever experienced.”

Will said that while he and Jaden never spoke about it directly, he knew his son felt “betrayed” and “misled” by him, adding: “He lost his trust in my leadership.”

He continued: “At 15 years old, when Jaden asked about being an emancipated minor, my heart shattered. He ultimately decided against it, but it sucks to feel like you’ve hurt your kids.”

Jaden is now 23, while Will has another child, 21-year-old Willow, with wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

Find out what becoming an emanicpated minor would have meant for Jaden here.

Elsewhere in his forthcoming memoir, the actor opened up about falling in love with his Six Degrees of Separation co-star Stockard Channing.

Last month, Smith also made headlines after his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, shared candid details about their sex life.