14 DAY TRIAL // A couple of days ago, a photo of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett’s daughter Willow, who is 13, in bed with a 20-year-old actor named Moises Arias, emerged online. It was pulled almost instantly but enough people had seen it to start the scandal. There was no need for that, Jada says, finally addressing the issue.
A bit of context first: there was nothing technically wrong about the photo, in that Arias, though shirtless, wasn’t even touching Willow. She was fully clothed and on top of the covers, reclining on the side, with one arm under her head. He was half-upright, with his back to the wall and both were looking at someone other than the person taking the shot.
It was later revealed that this person was actually Arias’ brother, a budding photographer. He and Moises are good friends of Willow and brother Jaden (15) and part of a group that always hangs out together. The Jenner girls, Kendall and Kylie, are also part of it.
Even after word of this got out, people still wondered about the appropriateness of the photo, questioning Will and Jada’s parenting style for letting her hang out with a young man who is so much older than her.
At LAX the other night, Jada was asked by the paparazzi what she thought of the “scandal” around the photo and she made it clear that all those who saw anything wrong with the picture need to take their mind out of the gutter, Us Weekly reports.
“Here's the deal: There was nothing sexual about that picture or that situation,” Jada told the paps, reportedly shaking her finger at them in anger. “You guys are projecting your trash onto it, and you're acting like covert pedophiles, and that's not cool.”
Sources close to the famous couple were telling the media yesterday that Jada and Will considered the photo “art” and that they trusted Willow because they considered her “very mature” and, as such, perfectly capable to be making her own decisions about who she hangs out with and how old they can be.
The photo, initially posted to Arias’ Instagram, is no longer available there. It can be found though on his brother’s photography website, along with another taken on the same occasion and a collection of others that show that, indeed, all these kids spend a lot of time together.
They’re almost never accompanied by an adult, Jada and Will having long said that they believe in the benefits of a hands-off parenting style, which implies their treating their kids as little adults who must call the shots on the most important things about their life.